Kingdom Hearts III: The Warriors of Light
by HeartofFyrwinde
Summary: An all-new adventure awaits Sora and company. As he searches for a way to free the ones who are hurting, three old friends return, Master Xehanort is plotting once again, and a host of new villains stands ready to interfere in the quest. But the final struggle for Kingdom Hearts will not be waged alone.
1. Chapter 1

From the desk and mind of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts follower _HeartofFyrwinde,_ comes an all-new journey, as three veteran Keybearers join in the conflict against Master Xehanort. The end…is now.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy franchises or their characters. This is a fan work dedicated in honor of the brilliant staff of Square Enix, who are the legal owners of these works. The only thing I own are the original characters.

_Kingdom Hearts III_

_I never expected my dream to see what lay in the stars come true. Especially not in the way it did on that day. Years ago, now. I can still picture it; the sky lighting up with thousands of glimmering meteors. It was…well, I guess beautiful would be one way to put it._

_But that was just the start. We weren't prepared for what happened next. We were chosen by weapons pretty much unheard of—well, on our world, anyway. Weapons thought to be nothing more than a myth._

_Keyblades. _

_The Keyblades are powerful key-like swords. They're able to bring peace or cause ruin. They're filled with an unwavering purpose, able to choose the ones who wield them. Each of us -my two friends and I- were granted that terrible, awesome power._

_We've been charged with the same basic duties: first, to protect the Keyblade's Chosen One and the ones who'll stand beside him someday; second, to seal the Keyholes Sora hasn't gotten to in order to prepare for something called the Keyblade War; lastly, unravel the mysteries behind a powerful place._

_Kingdom Hearts. "The heart of all worlds." According to legend, Kingdom Hearts was created when the original World was swallowed by darkness and split into the worlds we all know today. It's supposedly filled with immeasurable darkness…but in the deepest depths of it sleeps the 'true light'—pure energy that's waiting for something._

_We don't know much else about it. Not even now. But what I do know…is that we had no idea just how far this battle across countless worlds would take us. Or just what we were fighting to protect. Who we would be fighting alongside of._

_Sora. The kid's barely sixteen and he's gone through three huge adventures, trying to stop Xehanort's ambitions wherever they come. He's naïve, yeah, but not to the point of hopelessness. And he's powerful. Seriously powerful._

_And then there's Master Xehanort. The old creep's been messing with the order of things for years—almost eleven years in the main Realm of Light, and probably more. He's got a new Organization made up of thirteen different 'copies' of himself. They were created specifically to forge something called the χ-blade—that's a pun of sorts, mind you. The χ-blade is an ancient and immensely potent weapon, created alongside Kingdom Hearts, apparently. And it's supposed to be able to unleash the full force of that place. Whoever wields Kingdom Hearts' power will be able to remake the worlds as they see fit._

_Xehanort wants that power. At any cost._

_He's messed with darkness, with nothingness…possibly even the fabric of time and space itself. It's almost sickening what lengths he's gone to._

_We've gotta stop him before it's too late._

_It's not gonna be easy. Everybody knows: even the worlds themselves know it. But none of us are going down easy. Not Sora, not King Mickey, not me, not my friends…and certainly not all the friends that one kid has made._

_My name's not important right now, but I can tell you this. My friends and I have been around ever since Master Xehanort made his first big move. The reason? My world went through a time paradox about ten years ago. Nobody knows why...perhaps it means things are coming to a head._

_I'm a member of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee…and a full-fledged Keyblade Master._

_I'll do whatever it takes to make sure Sora comes out of this. Remember this, though. This is the last quest; the last bid for fate._

_We're gonna make the impossible a reality._

Radiant Garden, Date: X/XX/XXXX

In dark times, the brightest lights are often the first to be snuffed. For millennia, over and over again, whenever and wherever evil came to be, the first lights to be targeted were often a beacon of hope that others gravitated to. It was the case on the far-flung world of Earth over two thousand years ago, and it had been the same case in the Realm of Light when the Heartless had first risen in force: The first star they had nearly snuffed out was also the brightest of them all.

Radiant Garden: the City of Light. In its heyday it had been a wondrous, walled suburban city, surrounded by water and built around the base of a truly massive castle-a hollow bastion, since almost nothing as far as actual weaponry graced its towers. Dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and eventual peace, Radiant Garden overflowed with the gush of pure water and the scent from the flowers that bloomed in its vast community parks and plazas. But ten years ago it had been reduced to a sad and darkened ruin by evil forces, in a horrific event known as the Fall of Radiant Garden. Many had perished; others had met a fate worse than death, in a sense, as their hearts, their core feelings and memories, were stripped from them, and all humanity denied and ripped away by darkness. Everyone agreed, however, that the whole disaster had been planned from the beginning; orchestrated by a man named Xehanort.

But even in darkness, a speck of light can still be found. And Radiant Garden survived the onslaught of darkness, unlike countless worlds that followed.

Reduced from its former place as a blindingly proud beacon in the night sky, Radiant Garden was now the equivalent of a glowing, guttering fire on the hearth. It wasn't the paradise it used to be; far from it. Lush gardens and parks had been stripped down by the disaster, reduced to near-dead soil and rock. The towering bastion at the town's center was a husk of its former self, slowly recovering its old shape and regal air via vast construction efforts that dangled off its superstructure like clinging insects. Half the town lay empty, and shadows left over from the Fall ten years prior lurked in its warrens and cloistered streets. The Heartless scuttled about in seclusion and occasionally ventured out to attack those who still had hearts, and most people didn't dare venture out after dark. After all, Radiant Garden had been irreversibly changed. It wasn't exactly Radiant, nor was it even really a Garden anymore.

But the city and its inhabitants had learned their lesson, and the residents were slowly rekindling that still-glowing spark with the flames of a simple vow to make things right again, to help the Garden achieve rebirth just like the legendary phoenix.

Chief among these citizens were the ragtag team of men and women that made up the newly-renamed "Radiant Garden Restoration Committee". It certainly fit the bill. The Committee consisted of the "re-founders" of the city: they'd been the first to make it back to the world, and had tasked themselves with patrolling the ruins and heading salvage and reconstruction efforts. Recently, the original group's numbers had grown with the return of several beloved and well-known residents of the city.

Laguna Loire, the now-Acting President of Radiant Garden, had been one of them, and he'd managed to grind the attempts of a shadow-cabal of upper class bureaucrats (who wanted to capitalize on the city's reconstruction) into powder. He'd been a beloved political figure in Garden ten years ago, and he remained that way today. With the winsome President Loire at the helm again, and with his son Squall "Leon" Leonhart leading the Restoration Committee (leading being a relative term), reconstruction of the city was picking up speed.

Of course, that meant better business for a few members of the Committee, chief among them Tifa Lockheart. She had recently reopened her old bar Seventh Heaven, located in the town's small business district. Business, to nobody's shock, was currently booming. Today, however, had been rather quiet for Tifa. Two of her old friends had shown up; the rest were the usual crowd. Cid had shown up early for a glass of bourbon, grumping about how his airship's revamped left engine was acting up on him again. Leon had turned up a little later after his patrol shift, sweaty and tired but more than willing to talk…well, brood, actually, but not like he used to. He'd been distracted by Rinoa Heartilly—his girlfriend—showing up with a big smile and…it had sounded like something about "owing me a shopping trip" or something. As Tifa cleaned off the bartop she reflected that, despite his usual stoic grumblings, Leon had been compliant. A slight laugh passed her lips. _Squall Leonhart, compliant? The guy's got a gunblade, for Pete's sake!_ Yuffie had some big adventure to plan—Tifa had phoned Merlin immediately after; no sense letting the hyperactive young ninja get away with it scot-free, oho, no.

She was distracted by the ring of the new telephone upstairs; the one in Cloud's office. Cloud…her burgundy eyes grew distant at the thought of him. Cloud had gone off on a mission to figure out where Sephiroth had gotten to, and he'd gone on Fenrir. Well, actually, the 'mission' was more of a hell-bent vendetta ten years in the making. She'd tracked him and he'd tracked Sephiroth. Now that they'd seen each other again, he'd made it back after disappearing in the middle of a duel-again. Geesh, can't he ever stay put? Apparently not, but this time, before he left, Cloud had made a quiet promise to come back. Still…it'd been two, three weeks now and no word.

"He's not here right now…" she muttered when the phone didn't stop its dulcet tones. Really, it was astoundingly grating- Cloud probably bought it just to annoy her.

Finally heaving a sigh, Tifa left her cleaning rag behind and strode into the area behind the bar. A flight of stairs led to the second floor, where she and Cloud had two offices (one for the bar and Cloud's delivery service and one for Committee matters), two bedrooms and a fair-sized bathroom. The wall leading up the stairs was adorned with photos taken over the years. Some were from before the Fall. Others were more recent. But Tifa disregarded the photos for now and turned her attention to their bedroom as she reached the landing. The bed lay empty, the sheets slightly rumpled from her fitful sleep the night before. She never slept very well when Cloud was gone like this.

Tifa turned towards Cloud's office as the phone continued shrilling on. "Guh, what now…?" she ground through her mounting irritation. _Whoever it is sure is persistent,_ she thought. She stalked in and strode to the desk where the phone sat, looking innocently shiny and new amid the paperwork and a few pens and picture frames. With a sigh, she picked up the receiver and held it to her ear.

"Hello, Strife Delivery Service," she said, using the usual pickup line for Cloud's little side business. "You name it, we deliv…"

She was halted midsentence. "_Hey, Tifa! Thought it'd be Cloud on the line."_

A slight thread of irritation had Tifa putting her free hand on her hip; this wasn't what she'd expected. "May I ask who's calling?" she asked, her iron-hard temper lending an edge to her voice.

She smiled at the answer. Of course, t he voice _had _sounded a little familiar now that she knew the speaker's identity. "Hm," she laughed. "Yep, I remember you. How're things going out there?"

"_So far so good. We're heading your way. Got a letter from Yen Sid about a day ago; he said something about, uh…Master Xehanort. Sora managed to survive his latest scheme, but according to Yen Sid he's on the move."_

Tifa frowned. "Xehanort?" she wondered. "I thought Sora and the others…"

"_Apparently not. Listen, he mentioned the Restoration Committee's got something planned for whatever's coming. We'd like to come check it out. Care to share the details?"_

Now it hit her. "Oh! Oh, oh, yes. Leon said there's a meeting coming up tonight in the castle library. We've…" she paused for the right words, "…Well, you might not recognize some people, okay?"

"_What're you talking about?"_

Tifa smiled. "A few old friends of Leon's managed to make it back about a month ago. They're on the Restoration Committee now."

"_Happy to hear it. Say, he's not being the usual lonely frumpy grump anymore, is he?"_

The corny joke made Tifa giggle. "Not as much as he used to, no. But he can tell you more about it himself. How long before you get here?"

"_Well…according to the map, about an hour and a half. Warp drive's been acting up a bit."_

Tifa frowned. "Better coax out a little more speed, guys," she warned. "The meeting's an hour and twenty minutes from now, got it?"

"_All right. Thanks. Oh, one more thing. Who else will be there, other than the Committee?"_

Frowning, Tifa thought back to what Leon had said earlier that day. "Um…well, the King is going to try and be here; so are Donald and Goofy."

"_Anyone else?"_

Tifa's brow furrowed. "Sora might make it, but I heard Yen Sid is going to show up. He's got some new information for us." She heard the voice on the other end chuckle slightly and cocked her head to one side. "Did I say something?"

"_No, no. So the old man's out and about now, huh?"_

Tifa nodded. "Yep!"

"_All right. Anything comes up, you know what number to call. Bye." _

"All right. See you soon." The line disconnected. Returning the phone to its cradle, Tifa pursed her lips in thought, still staring at the desk. Or, to put it differently, at one of the photos. It was a recent one that displayed the Restoration Committee. She'd dragged Cloud into it, and she noticed the confused and hesitant smile on his face. Not much of one, but it was and could be identified as nothing else. On a spur of the moment she pulled out her cell phone and speed-dialed Cloud's number.

_Beeeep...Beeeep...Beeeep... _

_"Hey, you've reached Cloud Strife. I'm busy right now, so leave a message and I'll call you back later."_

"Hey, we got a call from the others; they'll be here soon." Tifa paused. "Cloud...hurry back, okay?" Having said what she wanted to, Tifa hung up the phone and left the room to finish cleaning up 7th Heaven for the day.

_On a bluff not far from Radiant Garden..._

A lone black motorcycle sat mute on the cracked and broken ground, parked on a low bluff overlooking the towering castle. It was bulky yet streamlined, a testament to almost brooding power. On its seat lounged a young man wearing a heavily modified black ensemble that slightly resembled a SOLDIER 1st Class' uniform. His bright blond hair-as spiky as a chocobo's plumage-waved slightly in the wind off the canyon rim. Mako-enhanced blue eyes were distant and inscrutable as their owner listened to Tifa's voice mail.

_Bip-"You have no new messages." _Sighing, Cloud flipped the phone shut and looked back up, scanning the landscape before he locked on to something that didn't quite belong. Stabbed point-first into the ground a short distance away was a gigantic sword. The Buster Sword. Its single-edged five foot blade was as wide as the hilt; at least a foot, and the tip tapered off into a single-edged point. Only a top-notch SOLDIER like Cloud could use the gigantic blade to any great effect. Cloud sighed slightly. He'd wielded this one for a while, in memory of the friend he'd lost ten years ago during the Fall. In fact, this spot was where an old friend had vanished without a trace ten years ago, leaving nothing but this sword behind. Cloud had never heard from Zack Fair again since that day. The memory of Zack's winsome, puppyish grin flickered in Cloud's mind. "Zack..." The sigh passed his lips along with a look of part-regret and part amusement. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Bet you're still wondering if you're a real hero, huh?" He paused to collect his thoughts. "I never exactly asked for the legacy...but I'm glad you chose me to carry it."

The wind held no answer, and Cloud fell silent as he stared at the rusting sword. Finally he sighed. "I'd better mosey. There's a meeting back to town, so..." He left the sentence unfinished. Turning away, Cloud cranked the motorcycle's engine to life with a crank of his wrist. Pausing momentarily to adjust his sunglasses, Cloud took one last look. Then he gunned the throttle and went rocketing off across the wastes in a screech of tires, leaving a plume of dirt and dust behind.

Behind him, the Buster Sword stood silent.

But as the growl of Fenrir dwindled into the distance, the wind over the landscape picked up, carrying on it a lone black feather and a quiet, sinister laugh.


	2. Chapter 2: Committee

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdom Hearts franchise or Final Fantasy VI, VII, VIII, or XIII. This is an amateur work, based solely on my interpretations of the series. The only characters I own are the OCs who appear. **

**Ch. 2: Committee**

On the tiny, warm world of Destiny Islands, there were only a few islands, all in a close-knit chain. Each held different areas. The main island held most of the homes, basic grocery stores, a few cafes...a few parks...that was about it on the southwestern side, anyway. The northeastern side of the main island was the business district. There was one small island set aside off the southwestern coast as a play island for the children. Some of those kids were approaching their mid to late teens, but Destiny Islands, like all worlds, had its fair share of youngsters. The younger kids usually came over right after school let out. The older kids went later, when they had time. Y'know, after their homework was done.

Three of them in particular had more time than most...but at the same time, they had no time at all. Sora, Riku and Kairi. All three of them were wielders of the Keyblade. Only Riku had officially been named a Master. They'd been off their world more than they'd been on it, for the past three years, at least.

Sora wasn't here at the moment. He'd stopped by, sure, long enough to say hi to his parents, Kyle and Anne Hikari, who'd been worried sick about their boy for months. Sora had to take off soon after that, to the sorrow of his mother. He'd said something about needing to "check on Traverse Town" for reasons Riku hadn't been able to fathom at the time.

As for Kairi and Riku himself...well, their parents had to face the facts about them both, too. Riku wasn't looking forward to leaving his family behind again. Their old raft... Riku found himself shaking his head. The idea had been so simple and awfully naive. Three coconuts, five fish, and two bottles of drinking water? Tch. Inside his own head, Riku was scoffing at his slightly younger self, the one who'd started this whole mess.

No, wait...not him. Xehanort. Or whatever the moldy old creep was calling himself nowadays. The boundaries the man had pushed to get to Kingdom Hearts confounded and disgusted Riku. While he'd been in the Realm of Sleep, he'd realized just how dangerous things had gotten when Sora was caught in the man's web of lies and nightmares. Good Lord almighty, was that what _he'd_ been like? _No,_ he told himself firmly. _The past is the past. There's no reason for going off and trying to change it. No excuses. No regrets._

Now? Well...here they were.

Riku was waiting on the kids' island with Kairi, watching the sky in the west light up with all sorts of colors, his mind drifting back to happier times...and a tall stranger he'd met here, on the beach of this very same place twelve years ago.

_Outside this tiny world...is a much bigger one._

_You gotta keep this a secret, okay? Otherwise all the magic will wear off._

How right he was... Riku shifted in his leaning against the bark of the paopu tree and cast a glance over to where Kairi was sitting. "You okay?" he asked.

Kairi's dark red hair blew in the breeze, and for a moment, she didn't answer. Riku had to admit she'd grown real pretty since those happier days three years ago. But all of that childish attraction to her had long since wafted away. She was Sora's.

_Has it really been three years?_ Riku wondered. He and Sora had competed for Kairi back then...and it had gone sour. Kairi was like a sister now. A younger sister he kept an eye on so she wouldn't end up in danger again. To be honest, Riku was fine with that. A sister...yeah, it was that kind of feeling. He'd just been too jealous of Sora's constant high spirits to realize it at the time. He shook himself out of his thoughts when he noticed his friend shifting to look at him.

"Hm?" So she'd heard.

"You all right?" he repeated, more or less.

Kairi beamed and nodded. "Yep." She fell silent for a moment and her thoughts turned inwards as she extended her hand in front of her body. It was a familiar gesture to Riku, and sure enough, with a melodious flash, Kairi's new Keyblade appeared in her hand. "I just...never thought I'd actually be able to go out there with you guys." Kairi's soft smile faded after a second as she stared at the flower-themed weapon. She looked troubled, and after about ten seconds she banished her weapon. "Fighting...I'm not sure how to take it."

"You'll get the hang of it soon enough, Kairi. Besides," Riku added, "You've got me to help you along the way. After all, I am a Master. Right?" He folded his arms behind his head and gave her a halfway grin. Kairi laughed before looking back out at the horizon. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"Sora? Yeah, he's fine. I swear, he's such a sap sometimes, but he's like a rubber band. He always snaps back into place somehow."

"Hmm..." Kairi put a hand to her chin while she thought over Riku's comment; then she giggled. "Heehee...That's a really good way to put it, Riku!"

"You know it!" They both laughed at each other for a few precious moments...as peaceful a moment as they could hold onto as best friends. From now on, Riku knew, things were going to get chaotic. There was no telling what might happen.

"So...off on a new adventure." Kairi's voice was slightly melancholic, slightly excited, and more than a little nervous. "You think we'll come back okay?"

"Who knows?" Riku shrugged. "We might never come back at all. But hey, when we do, we'll all be heroes!" He thought back again and frowned slightly. "Hey, Kairi?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever meet a lady with...blue hair when you were little?"

Kairi frowned. "Umm...blue hair?"

"Yeah."

It took at least two minutes before Kairi hesitantly shook her head. "Sorry...I don't remember. But blue hair does sound...familiar somehow."

Riku waved off her uncertainty with his brand of quiet confidence. "Don't worry about it, all right? It'll come back to you eventually." He sighed. "It's just...she was the one who told Sora to keep me safe, if I started wandering down a dark path all alone."

"That's nice of her."

"And...I think...she was a Wielder, too," he went on slowly. "I just had this good feeling about her when I met her."

Kairi sat up suddenly. "So...maybe she's one of the people the King was talking about in his letter!"

Riku shrugged, refolding his arms over his chest. "Who knows. But we aren't going to find out just sitting around here." He looked up and over his shoulder at his friend. "We've gotta go out and look for those answers."

"Exactly!" Kairi shaded her eyes and peered up at the sky; the first stars were starting to come out now. "Look!" she cried, out of the blue. Startled, Riku jumped and lost his balance, falling over sideways with a loud THWUMP onto the sand. Kairi giggled. "You scare too easily, Riku," she teased.

Riku scowled, busy dusting off his shins and most of his front. "Not funny."

"Seeing you almost get a faceful of sand is."

Riku rolled his eyes and looked up at where Kairi pointed. One of the stars was definitely moving like it was being controlled by something...or in this case, someONE, and it was growing larger as it soared across the sky.

"There he is..." he murmured.

The star quickly grew to a streak of light as the two of them watched, and it curved down towards the play island. Soon they could make out the shape of Sora's Gummi Ship, the _Highwind._ It descended towards the beach of the island, buffeting back and forth every so often when the wind off the ocean stirred up turbulence.

Kairi cocked her head simply up at the Gummi Ship as she slipped down off the paopu tree's trunk. "Wonder what he's been up to?"

"Lookin' for clues, probably." Riku headed off across the bridge to the stairs down to the beach. "Besides, he never tells me anything." When Kairi didn't move he turned back. "Come on."

"Just a second..." After a moment fiddling around on the paopu tree, Kairi followed him, albeit slightly reluctantly, still watching the _Highwind _descend for a landing. Riku couldn't help but wonder what she'd been doing, but shrugged it off in the end. It wasn't his business.

By the time they made it to the beachfront, the Highwind was almost ready to land. As the small, brightly-painted ship slowed to a near-hover over the small islet, the breeze from its hover jets stirred up a stiff whirlwind, throwing up sand and seawater as it coasted down towards the beach. Riku and Kairi were forced to shield their faces from the wind-whipped sand.

"Sora!" Kairi yelled once the ship had settled to earth. She was waving wildly. Both she and Riku could see the unmistakable spiky hairdo of their best friend through the dome of the three-person cockpit, and Sora eagerly waved back as he checked on the ship's controls one last time.

When the exit hatch opened Kairi was already running to grab Sora in a tight hug. "Where have you been?!" she demanded.

Sora had frozen in place with an almost comical expression of surprise, his arms outspread. "Uhh...well...looking around in Traverse Town."

"Really? What'd you do there?"

"Just...stuff...y'know...just looking for someone."

Kairi's right eyebrow arched and she put her hands on her hips.

"Oh, quit being dodgy and tell her!" Riku told Sora with a grin.

"Oh, shut up, Riku." Sora rubbed the back of his head. "I just went to Traverse Town to see how things were going, and all the Dream Eaters we met showed up out of nowhere!" He grinned at the stunned and amazed look on both his friends' faces. "Wish you could've been there, Kairi. They're amazing!"

"The Dream Eaters? Really?" Riku asked as they filed on board the Gummi Ship.

"Yep! All of 'em!" The young man gave them his biggest cheesy grin.

"Wow..." Kairi breathed. She was staring around at the ship's interior in amazement. "It's been a while since I've been on one of these..."

"You'd better get used to it, Kairi." Kairi glanced at Sora in confusion...and..._oho_, thought Riku, _is that a little glimmer of love I'm seeing?_ He barely held back a snicker. Oblivious to Kairi's slight smile and Riku's "casual" lean against the wall, Sora continued, "because this thing's gonna be home while we're on this adventure. "Hey, don't worry, we've got beds and a kitchen and all. It's just really tiny." Kairi nodded. Realizing they were just standing around with nothing to do, Sora went and started climbing up the ladder into the cockpit. "Come on, you guys!" he called. "This is the best part."

For Riku, when he saw what lay inside the cockpit, it certainly was the best part. He stared around at everything open-mouthed. Dials and gauges and holographic displays and glowing conduits for the ship was everywhere, but organized perfectly so that one person or three could help fly the ship. Kairi was also stunned speechless, and when Sora glanced back at them he cracked up.

"What's so funny?" Kairi demanded, snapping out of her daze.

"Your face!" Sora laughed, pointing at Riku, who was still struck dumb. Kairi looked at her older friend and started laughing, too, but had the heart to reach over and snap his hanging jaw shut. Riku blinked and then found the presence of mind to glare half-heartedly at them. "Whatever." He paused to inspect the bridge a little more. "So what does it run on?"

Sora scratched his head while he checked on a few things. "Not a clue. Donald said it runs on happy faces or something. Me? I think it runs on a combination of weird fuel, batteries, and just...light. Smiles are an energy booster. Still, gotta have a good time, right?"

Riku stroked his chin for a second as he studied the readouts scattered across the Gummi Ship's dashboard. "That...makes sense."

"We ready to go, then?"

Riku nodded sharply. He was ready.

"Mm-hm!" Kairi belted herself into the seat to Sora's right, and Riku took the left one.

"Time for another adventure?" he asked his childhood friend.

"Yeah." Sora settled into the pilot's seat and pressed a few buttons, then put one hand on the throttle and one on the Highwind's steering yoke as it lifted up off the ground with a smooth lifting motion like an elevator going up. Tipping the rudder pedals to the right made the ship rotate in place, turning towards the western horizon, where the last few dregs of sunset were starting to fade away. As he began pushing forward on the ship's throttle, Sora glanced back, and over the rising grumble of the rocket engines he cried, "Hang on!" He pulled back on the steering at the same time he shoved the throttle wide open. "We're off to Radiant Garden!"

And with a thunderous roar and a flash of flame, the Gummi Ship rocketed off into the night sky.

* * *

Radiant Garden's castle can only be described in one way: massive. The castle, which sat smack-dab in the center of the suburban city, towered high over any other building and could be seen for miles around. It had yet to regain all of its former glory, still rusty and creaky and full of sad shadows on the inside, but there was one place there that had survived more intact than anyplace else.

The library.

It hadn't changed much. If someone were to walk in, they would find themselves dwarfed by towering shelves of books, each one at least seven to eight shelves high, all of them crammed chock-full of thick books. At the far end of the library lay a slightly curving staircase to the upper level, where Ansem the Wise had some of his own research shelved. The stairs swept past a tall row of gleaming floor-to-ceiling windows that glinted gold whenever the sun shone at just the right angle. Since restoration had begun wrapping up on most of the castle, the crews had seen fit to link the castle's central computer system to the library, creating three access terminals and Wi-Fi access to the rebooted World Wide Network.

Near the foot of the stairs lay a large open area with a table and chair, set by for those who wished to read by the light of the sun. At the moment, though, that small table had been dragged off to one side, tucked well beneath the staircase. It'd been replaced by a much larger table, and it was around this one that the expanded ranks of the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee had gathered. Most of them were standing, but chairs were set aside for them to sit at. Their murmuring voices carried throughout the library.

At the far end of it, near the stairs, stood a tall, brooding young man in a black short-sleeved leather jacket and black pants with zippers along the seams of both legs. His slightly shaggy brown hair hung loose, framing a strong, narrow face marred by a single, straight scar that ran from above his right eyebrow and across the bridge of his nose, angling down to just under his left eye. His signature Griever necklace dangled from a platinum chain around his neck. Squall Leonhart, however, (better known to his friends as "Leon",) was not as dark and gloomy as he used to be. His dark sea-blue eyes flitted over the maps and document spread out in front of him while he stood with his arms folded, but every so often he would glance fondly at the young woman standing next to him while he explained something, picking up one thing or another or consulting his PHS, an advanced cell phone. Everybody on the Committee had one, except for Merlin.

In contrast to Leon's black ensemble, his girlfriend Rinoa Heartilly wore blue as her color of choice. It happened to be the color of her the cable-knit duster sweater-vest she wore over a dark tank top and shorts, and that of her arm warmers. Her smile was sweet and still retained the light-hearted innocence she still possessed after ten years of wandering the worlds. She was also a sorceress of daunting power, something that succeeded in scaring even her friends if she got upset or angry enough. When she'd first received her powers Rinoa had found them hard to adjust to, but ten years of wandering had given her some much-needed experience, at the cost of some of her innocence. Fighting monsters for that long will do that to you.

To Rinoa's right just down the left side of the table was a lanky, older man with a sleek, long mane of graying black hair. Primarily swept into a low-hanging ponytail, he'd let his bangs hang down on one side of his face, but not on the other. Green eyes twinkled merrily in a still-youthful face whenever he glanced at the couple he was standing next to. Youthful; a bit odd for someone who had to be at least two years past fifty, but such spirit showed through in his eyes. He wore much simpler clothing than Leon or Rinoa: a light blue button-up shirt worn open over a grey t-shirt that read "Leave This to the Dumb Adults!", while dark brown pants and black work boots completed the odd ensemble. Despite the casual look, Laguna Loire was the most powerful man in Radiant Garden at the moment. As Acting President, he held a position second only to Governor. With Ansem the Wise gone, Laguna had taken up the reins, keeping the politicians off the Committee's back while the restoration continued. He also happened to be Leon's father. They didn't have the best of relationships, though—Laguna was fun-loving and bouncy, a trait Squall hadn't inherited.

Others included Irvine, the typical modern cowboy in his black hat and tan duster, as usual, and Zell, chatting animatedly. Quistis, unfortunately, was elsewhere, helping the reconstruction crews.

Down the table were some of the others. Cid Highwind was right next to Laguna, jawing away on yet another toothpick and going over blueprints for updating the city's defenses. His short, still-blond hair was wrapped by a pair of flight goggles, as always, but this time he'd come dressed in a faded blue t-shirt and old brown cargo fatigues and boots instead of his white shirt, wide yellow belt and baggy blue pants. His flight jacket was tied around his waist. This was Cid's serious outfit, the one he usually wore when he was flying the _Shera_, his personal airship.

Self-proclaimed "Great Ninja" Yuffie Kisaragi had come dressed in a somewhat skimpy outfit meant for movement at all times. She was yammering away at Aerith about how good her last patrol had been. The gentle, sweet-hearted flower girl still sold her blooms whenever she could, and she was one of the few who could decipher Yuffie's mile-a-minute mouth. The two of them stood near Merlin the Wizard, who looked rather grumpy from Yuffie's chatty disposition as he observed the others. His so-called "animal familiar", Archimedes the talking owl, was thankfully absent. The last time Archimedes attended a Committee meeting had nearly resulted in extra-crispy owl flambé, courtesy of Lea's control over fire and Archimedes' usual insults.

Out of sight, the doors into the library swung open with a creak and footsteps alerted the Committee. "Hey, guys!" Tifa Lockhart, martial arts expert, came around the bookshelves to the meeting just then, garbed as usual in her black leather vest, shorts, black sneakers and duster-tail. "Sorry I'm a bit late; I had to take a call." Tifa was granted greetings from her old friends as she worked her way to an empty spot next to Cloud Strife, resident ex-SOLDIER and Tifa's apparent lifelong crush. Whether the blond, spiky-haired swordsman, who carried a gigantic blade wrapped in bandages called the Fusion Sword (this because it was actually six interlocking blades) actually returned those feelings was between him and Tifa, no one else. Cloud wore his usual black outfit and navy-blue cable-knit shirt. With his arms folded over his broad chest, he looked every bit the brooder he was. It was hard to get a smile out of Cloud even on a good day, but today was one of those rare ones. He looked...lighter, and Tifa's smile of greeting got a small smile and a nod in return.

At the end of the table opposite from Leon was a tall-backed chair, and it was in this chair that the great sorcerer Yen Sid sat. Yen Sid was actually the one who had suggested the meeting, which was why he was here now. As always, he wore his blue robes and conical sorcerer's hat marked with moons and stars. The old man was_ extremely_ powerful, and his appearance and facial features demanded respect and emanated mystery. At the moment, his hands were folded on his lap and his head was bowed in an obvious state of deep thought. No one dared disturb him, not even Merlin, even though the two wizards were nearly equal in power.

Down next to Cloud and Tifa, the newest member of the Restoration Committee was in her typical stance; weight shifted off-center on one leg, arms folded and a harsh, blank expression on her heart-shaped face: Sergeant Lightning Farron, dressed in her Guardian Corps uniform: a white and tan coat buckled at the waist over a dusty-maroon knit shirt, blue fingerless gloves with bronze knuckle guards, a short brown skirt over black tight shorts, knee-high brown and rose leather boots, and a red synth-fabric cape than hung from a fastening behind her left shoulder. A small dark red carry pack was strapped to her left thigh. Her badge was a green leather spaulder on her left shoulder emblazoned with the crest of her division and two glowing yellow lines to signify her rank. Her right arm was unadorned save two thick decorative leather bands around her bicep. From the belt at her waist, a large black case crafted from thick fabric hung just above her knees, canted up towards her right. This case, or sheath, held Lightning's weapon; a gunblade called the "Blazefire Saber" that could be switched from firing mode to blade mode. It was as unique and deadly as its owner. Lightning's hair was a light, almost rosy shade of pink, the bangs swept over her right eye in a style similar to Cloud's. However, the rest of her hair had little resemblance to Cloud's gravity-defying spikes. Lightning's was slightly wavy. On her right it hung rather short and relatively straight, styled into a downwards sweep across her forehead down her temple, spiked out slightly at the ends. It was longer on the left, but still a reasonable length for fighting, and lay draped over her left shoulder.

Although she blended in perfectly with the Restoration Committee, the young pink-haired military officer wasn't from Radiant Garden. Her world had been destroyed by the elemental form of chaos, and she'd adopted Radiant Garden as her new home. Lightning's disposition, meanwhile, was like Cloud's and Leon's combined. She was harsh, unwilling to let most people in because of an obviously painful past. Her tone of voice could burn a dragon's scales off if she really got going. However, she was willing to help the Committee, hence the reason she was here in the first place.

"Ugh, where the heck are they?!" Yuffie finally broke off from her spiel to gripe. "I thought the King was supposed to be here by now!"

Yen Sid's eyes opened. The pupils were small in the expanse of the whites, sharp and piercing beneath his thick, almost perpetually frowning brow. He raised his head to gaze sternly at the young ninja. "He will come. Now calm yourself, young lady."

Yuffie gulped and hastily snapped into a sort of salute. "Y-yes, sir!" Yen Sid smiled to himself at her reaction before nodding.

"He's not the only one who's gonna be late," Cloud noted. "Where's Sora?"

"On his way from his homeworld with Riku and Kairi," Leon reported. "What about the others?" He and the rest of the original Committee traded glances of remembrance, all except for Lightning, who ignored them, too absorbed with reading the latest reports being handed out by one of Yen Sid's magic broom-servants. The rest of the group looked at Leon oddly, including Rinoa.

"What 'others'?" she asked.

Leon sighed. "Did you read the reports?" When Rinoa blushed he rolled his eyes and smirked. "They're the three Keybearers who've been keeping to the flanks. You'll meet them once they get here."

Cloud spoke up. "They head off any distracting threats to Sora. Remember, those of us who came back fought alongside them during that battle against all those Heartless." The spiky-haired ex-SOLDIER smiled to himself. "They're different, that's for sure."

"Their world is a strange one," Yen Sid added, drawing everyone's attention.

"How so?" Lightning inquired simply, setting down her folder.

"It is far larger than most of the worlds you and I know, Miss Farron. It is one of the most massive fragments of the original World, home to literally billions of souls; a veritable planet on its own, in fact." Yen Sid sat in silence for a moment before he continued, turning almost perplexed. "About twelve years ago, just after the start of this world's Fall began, that world was somehow thrown through a mysterious rift in time. It seems that while a decade passed for most of the Realm of Light, only a year passed. I cannot fathom why this phenomenon occurred, or how, but that rift in time gave us an unexpected resource," he continued. "Those three wielders of the Keyblade have a much more comprehensive understanding of Xehanort's ambitions than the Chosen One currently possesses. They were present when Xehanort first began to put his plans into motion; before this Garden fell to his evil deeds."

"Waaaiit-wait-wait-wait. So, you're saying…the reason they don't look like old farts, like Old Fart over there," Yuffie said, "is because their world went through some weirdamungo time warp or something?" She tossed a devilish grin at Merlin, who was steaming indignantly.

"That is correct," Yen Sid replied, ignoring the verbal prod unintentionally aimed at him as well as Merlin.

Merlin cleared his throat, interrupting Yuffie's next question. "I take offense to that, young lady!"

Yuffie faced him and put her hands on her hips. "Well, just FYI, last month you turned my hair neon blue! I couldn't get it out for weeks!"

Merlin's beard bristled. "May I remind you that the former was a misfire, and only because you were attempting to create some half-baked concoction while I had my back turned! That toxic brew melted my best cauldron!"

"Oh, yeah?! Last week you turned me into a frog again!"

"Oh, balderdash! That was one of my burglar traps! You triggered that yourself!"

"So that's how you want to roll, do ya?" Yuffie put up her fists. "Bring it, windbag!"

"Oh, stop it, you two," Tifa said.

"But—I-I…" Merlin stammered. He had frozen with his wand raised comically.

"Cut it out." This came from Cloud, of all people.

"Aww, you guyyys…!" Yuffie whined. Tifa pulled out her gloves and Cloud curled his hand around the Fusion Sword's handle. Ninja and wizard both shut up immediately.

"Now then…" Yen Sid rumbled. "Before our gathering was disrupted by such petty squabbles—" he paused to linger on Yuffie and Merlin with a stern but amused glance "—I was considering recent events regarding Sora and Riku's friend Kairi."

"The seventh princess of heart?" Leon asked from down the table. Yen Sid nodded.

"Yes. It would seem that sometime during her life, she was bestowed with the ability to wield the Keyblade."

"_Whaaaaat?!_" everyone exclaimed (to varying degrees).

"But, hold on…" Laguna spoke up, scratching his head. "What're the princesses of heart, anyway? Heard rumors, but I never really got the memo."

"A valid point." Yen Sid set his elbows on the arms of his chair and laced his fingers together, leaning forwards slightly. "The princesses are seven maidens of the purest heart; Snow White, Jasmine, Belle, Cinderella, Alice, Aurora, and lastly Kairi. Darkness, strangely, does not exist within the hearts of these seven, but with that grace, there comes a rather unsettling power." The sorcerer leaned back again and resumed his former upright posture. "This very castle once played host to the infamous Door to Darkness. I am not sure if it still resides here, or if it has somehow relocated to the abyss. But if all seven of the princesses are brought together, and the light within their hearts unleashed, they can supposedly open that door. What lies beyond it, I'm afraid the records do not exist."

"Sounds like some kinda funky magical mumbo-jumbo to me…" Yuffie mumbled. "_Oww_!" Aerith had slapped her upside the head.

"You've seen plenty'a weird crap, Yuffie, so stop yer jabberin', siddown and shut yer trap!" Cid demanded. He whacked the table.

Yuffie pouted childishly and propped her chin on her hands over the table. "Okaaayyyy…"

"Geesh, Yuffie. Learn to keep your mouth shut, will ya?" Irvine said.

"Oh, like you're one to talk..." Yuffie retorted.

"As I was saying," Yen Sid spoke up again, "These seven princesses hold immense powers of light. When Kairi came by a Keyblade and earned the ability, I am not sure. But the fact that she has one is portentous indeed."

Everyone jumped when someone new spoke up. "That's right!" said a high, almost squeaky voice.

"King Mickey!"

Leon smiled. "I knew it…"

Around the corner of the bookshelves came the diminutive mouse-monarch Mickey Mouse. He looked rather bashful about all this sudden attention. With him were Donald Duck and Goofy Goof, Mickey's closest pals, who already held the distinction of traveling with Sora for three adventures. Aerith smiled cheerfully. "We missed you!"

"Gosh, guys, sorry I'm late 'n all."

"Hey, no sweat!" Laguna said amiably. "How've things been, Mickey?"

"Welp, Sora's on his way," Mickey said with a grin. "He should be here in a few minutes." An impromptu cheer went up. "As fer the rest…well, let's give 'em a bit. They're comin' from pretty far off."

"That's right. Their world's pretty far away, isn't it?" Rinoa said.

"Yup." Tifa's statement drew surprised looks. "That was the call I had. Last I heard, they're gonna be about ten minutes late. They said their ship's warp drive was acting up."

"Huh. Better take a look at it when they get here," Cid muttered. He jotted down a quick note in a battered notepad with a nearby pen.

"I may be able to help with that," said another voice. This one sounded more digital, and came from the center of their meeting. A three-dimensional projector had been set in the center of the table. As the Committee watched, a flurry of data fragments replaced the information flow. Then, the image of the castle computer's current Master Control Program, a security program named Tron, appeared.

He had changed his appearance. He looked more human than he used to. Instead of the off-white, blue-circuited uniform bodysuit from before and his therefore blue-cast skin, Tron wore a sleeker black outfit with less glowing circuitry. His trademark four-dotted "T" sign was still there, glowing from just below his collarbones, and his head was bare, revealing a well-combed coif of brown hair that was just starting to gray at the temples.

"Greetings, Users." Tron said with a grin and a nod as he turned on the spot to greet them all. "I have some time free, so I figured I might as well assist with the meeting in any way possible." He waved, becoming a bit more enthusiastic when he saw Donald and Goofy. "Donald, Goofy, good to see you again!"

Goofy waved back. "Heya, Tron! Nice duds ya got there."

"An' y'all can thank me for it!" Cid called.

"Hey, whaddaya mean by that?!" Donald quacked.

"Cid installed system-wide updates, courtesy of a young visitor we had recently, named Sam Flynn. My original programming has been improved, so I can utilize my various functions in different ways while using less energy," Tron explained. "I've been debugging and restoring Ansem the Wise's research data, and I'm in charge of deploying Cid's Claymore defense system. Not to mention my usual duties, of course."

Goofy looked a little surprised. "Wow, sounds like you're purty busy in there, Tron."

"I have my days," the AI admitted with a grin, shrugging.

"So what's up?" Leon asked. Tron turned to face him, putting one hand on his hip and scratching his neck with the other in a very human gesture of confusion. "Well…there's been some odd activity logged in that sub-basement you and Rinoa discovered beneath the castle. During the last few days, there've been…odd life signs. Just split-second readings, really. Before any of my scans can get a solid lock, the signatures vanish."

"Probably just the Heartless running around," Yuffie sighed, slurring from sheer boredom. Her staring contest with anyone across the table had utterly failed.

"That could certainly be the case. I'll keep an eye out, though, if you don't mind."

"Not at all, Tron," Leon replied. "Feel free."

"Roger that." Tron vanished, but was replaced by a readout displaying a map of the known worlds. "Oh! One more thing." Two blips showed up in highlighted colors near the world marked as Radiant Garden. One blip was just landing; the other was not too far away from achieving orbit. "I've picked up Sora's ship _Highwind _on external scans, as well as Gummi Ship Victor-Alpha-Juliet One, christened _Starseeker 1_. Sora is already on the ground. The others should arrive within the next five minutes."

Leon nodded. "We'll call you in when we're ready."

"Copy that. Tron out."

"Now that's a sweet computer program," Mickey said. "Y'know, I met Tron back when Ansem was still doin' his research."

"Oh?"

"Yup! Hasn't changed a bit, 'cept for his new outfit."

"Speaking of change, Mickey," said Yen Sid, "We are here to discuss the role Radiant Garden itself will play in this conflict to come."

"That's right. With the enemy on the move we can't let our guard down like we did ten years ago," Laguna said. "So what's your idea?" he asked Mickey and Yen Sid. "I dunno how the the public's gonna react if we decide to..." he scratched his neck, "well, y'know...fully rearm the Garden Infantry and SOLDIER."

"I do not claim to know the outcome of such a thing, Laguna. Discuss it among yourselves if you wish." Sensing that the conversation was turning elsewhere and more towards Committee matters for the time being, Yen Sid fell silent to watch and listen carefully.

"Laguna...Radiant Garden may not have much of a choice." Leon pointed out. "The Committee's thinned out as it is, even with Tron running the Claymore system."

Lightning frowned; she hadn't had the chance to read the documents on Radiant Garden's military yet. "SOLDIER? Sounds like PSICOM."

"They were the upper level of the army," Cloud explained. "A lot fewer in number than the infantry, but they'd been...enhanced."

"How?" Yen Sid inquired, picking up on this immediately.

"I'm not quite sure." Cloud's face twitched in an rather pained way and the others tuned in to listen. "They're faster and stronger and most of their senses are enhanced by the procedure. All I know is that it involves showers of something called 'mako energy' and some kind of cell enhancement. That's why my eyes glow like this."

As Cloud went through his explanation, Yen Sid began to frown uneasily. Aerith fidgeted where she stood. For a moment, sorcerer and flower girl both traded quick, telling glances and then refocused on Cloud.

"It's potent magical energy," Cloud went on, "but Ansem only allowed it rarely and in controlled doses, as far as I know." He grimaced. "Problem is...SOLDIER's head of science, Professor Hojo, didn't care about that." He gestured to himself. "I got captured by Hojo along with a friend under Ansem's radar, and..." he shuddered and groaned slightly, putting a hand to his head for a moment. "...never mind." Tifa put a comforting hand on his arm.

Cid spoke up. "Far 's I know, there's a lot of folks wantin' better protection even with Claymore defendin' our turf. We barely held Li'l Miss B**** Maleficent's siege back when she tried t' invade last year." There were nods of assent all around, even from King Mickey. "I think restartin' the old army's a real swell idea m'self. That way we'll have people to count on if th' Committee's outnumbered outside of town, eh?"

"Yeah!" Tifa exclaimed.

"Woot! You nailed it, old timer!"

"Hey, watch yer yappin', gal!" Cid blustered, scowling at the young ninja. "I ain't that old!"

Laguna grinned. "Getting there!" he added. Cid whacked him on the back in return, but grinned.

"Anyhow," Cid went on, "I took a gander 'round the ol' airstation over the last couple'a days and found a bunch'a old helicopters an' airships in there."

"Yep! With some good old elbow grease and a little dash of luck, we'll have an air force, too!" Laguna cheered.

"Let's figure the air force out later, Laguna," Leon interjected. "Right now we're trying to figure out the army." He looked to Mickey. "Your Majesty. Do you have any suggestions?"

Mickey didn't answer at first. He stood deep in thought. It was an oddly endearing sight. "Welp, I'd say gettin' SOLDIER back's a pretty swell plan. But...don't be using that mako stuff anymore. I'd rather see an army with folks who can take care of themselves, instead of just a few folks with a whole bunch of stuff inside 'em."

"So...keep SOLDIER, but don't use enhancements like the Labs did. Make it the actual army instead," Laguna repeated back, his hand on his chin in thought.

Mickey nodded eagerly, his big smile back. "Yup!" He spread his arms open. "And if any of the enhanced SOLDIERs come back, y' can ask 'em to come back and help ya train the new folks!"

All the Committee looked intrigued by this idea. "That sounds great, Mickey," said Aerith.

"Yeah, it's perfect!" Yuffie added, thrusting a fist in the air. "Strength in numbers, I always say!"

"Yuffie..." everyone on the Committee groaned.

Yuffie stared around in protest. "What? Was it something I said?"

"No $#%&, short stack!" Cid retorted, once he'd gotten his voice back from the land of Stunned Speechless.

"Cid..." Aerith warned. "Language."

Cid gulped and jawed on his toothpick. Unspoken Rule #3 on the Restoration Committee: Don't mess with Aerith. "Fine, fine. Now, if y'all ain't gonna help me out with gettin' them choppers up 'n ready, I'll do it m'self!" He was met by looks of shock and a debate broke out. Ignoring the haggle, Mickey, Donald and Goofy turned to Yen Sid in the meantime.

While Cid was haggling with Laguna and Leon over the airfleet, Lightning asked coolly to the girl across from her, "How come everyone's scared of you?" Aerith paused for a moment when the argument escalated.

At the other end of the table... "We've got to get this through the Council first, Cid! Just starting it on our own without..." Laguna was saying.

"Without a usable air fleet, there's -" Leon argued.

"But -"

"Hold on - "

Backing out of the whole tizzy, Rinoa folded her arms and waited.

Ignoring them, Aerith clasped her hands behind her back and looked at Lightning with a telling gleam in her eye. "I have my ways."

"So do I." Despite Lightning's harshness, Aerith was a lot easier for her to get along with than anyone else on the Committee. Cid's volley of curses from down the table reinforced her point.

The argument was suddenly interrupted. "Excuse me." It was Tron. "I've detected three people approaching the library from the entrance hall."

Silence fell.

"It's them," Yen Sid spoke.

"Sora." Smiles leaped onto most of the faces who knew him; some outright grins, others just smiles or even smirks.

Donald was almost bouncing. "Oh, boy!"

BAM! went the doors into the library. Footsteps echoed on the floor, along with murmurs from a familiar trio of voices.

"C'mon, Sora - pull it together, you'll be fine!"

"Riku, I'm not cut out for this!" Unbeknownst to the three, some of the Committee heard this; Yuffie had to muffle a giggle.

"You beat the Nightmares with my help, and now we've got Kairi here, too. Chill out, already!"

"But..."

A girl's voice spoke, the tone soothing. "Hey, you'll be okay."

The second boy's voice chuckled. "Thanks, Kairi."

And here they came. Three young teens. The one on the right was Riku, who wore a white and yellow vest over a zippered black shirt and baggy blue jeans. His hair was silver-gray, not as long as it used to be, but still coming down past the back of his neck.

Then came Kairi, on the left. She wore her usual short, pink tube dress over a white tank top-adventurously girlish, some would call it. A black hood hung off the back of her outfit, while her feet were shod in laced-up sneakers obviously made for running, rather than just worn for sheer fashion. Her shoulder-length dark red hair brought out her smiling bright blue eyes. The Committee could almost sense the light she held inside her and it brought smiles to everyone's faces...though Lightning's was more wistful than warm. "Princess of heart, huh?" she murmured softly to herself. "A lot like Serah..." She looked off into space.

And finally, here came the man of the hour. He hadn't changed a bit since the last time the original Committee had seen him. His brown hair stood up in gravity-defying spikes, and his youthful face was split in his usual cheesy grin as he bantered back and forth with his two best friends. His clothing was the same: A black short-sleeved jacket with shoulder guards, long, puffy shorts with buckles and belts galore fastening two giant red pockets to the sides, a red and blue shirt, big yellow and black shoes and around his neck, the crown necklace he was famous for.

Sora. The Keyblade's Chosen One.

When Sora spotted the Committee he waved hello. "Hey, everybody!"

"Welcome back!" Yuffie exclaimed.

Cid rubbed his nose and grinned at the boy. "Good to see ya, kiddo!"

"Thanks, Cid!" Sora replied. He gestured to either side of him at his friends. "Guys, this is Riku, and this is Kairi."

The two received various greetings from the Committee. Leon walked over with Rinoa at his side, smiling down at Sora. "So you made it," he said by way of a greeting.

Sora grinned and swiped his thumb across his nose confidently, planting his hands on his hips. "What'd you expect?"

Leon smirked. "Nothing less from a certified hero, I guess." He turned to one side and Rinoa through. "Guys, I'd like you to meet a very good friend of mine, Rinoa Heartilly."

Rinoa smiled sweetly and shook hands with the trio. "I've heard a lot about your adventures, Sora."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Rinoa tipped her head to one side, examining Sora with big chocolate brown eyes. "You're the one who fought off the Organization, right? And you freed our home from Maleficent."

"Uh-huh."

"Thank you. That's something we can never fully repay."

Sora fidgeted and a bright red blush darkened his face. "Well...Thanks..."

"Oh, quit being such a sap, Sora," Riku teased. He wrapped an arm around Sora's shoulders and ruffled his friend's spiky hair with his other hand.

"Ah! Hey, quit it!"

Watching the scene, Leon shook his head. "All that fighting and they're still like this..." he murmured. Rinoa tugged him over by the crook of his elbow. "Oh, don't start brooding again, Squally," she teased softly.

"That's Leon..." he replied, but allowed her to land a peck on his cheek.

"Just 'good friends', huh?" Sora's sly voice said out of the blue.

Leon and Rinoa blushed when they realized Sora, Riku and even Kairi were right there with them...and both boys wore big grins. "Fine." Leon sighed. "She's my girlfriend."

"Reeeaaaally..." Sora drew out the vowel knowingly and assumed a "casual" pose with his hands clasped behind his neck.

Rinoa giggled. "Yep, and proud of it!"

Leon sighed and put a hand to his forehead, and Rinoa cuddled up to him, which made them smile at each other. Riku coughed at the sight. It sounded oddly like _"Whipped."_ Sora barely held back a snigger when Rinoa caught that and frowned at Riku. "So what's up?" he asked after a moment had passed.

"Well, we've grown a bit in numbers since last time," said Leon, feeling glad for an opportunity to ease out of the awkward moment. He walked back to the table and motioned at the other side, where several seats stood empty. "Go ahead, those're your spots." Once the trio had taken their seats Leon went on. "You've already met Rinoa. This is Laguna," he said, nodding or gesturing at each person as he said their names, "Irvine, Zell, and..." Leon frowned when he finally reached the young woman with pink hair Sora had noticed over on their side of the table. Finally he put a hand to his forehead. "Crud. I forgot," he finally admitted. The old gang sighed in exasperation.

"Doggone it, Leon, her name ain't exactly hard t' remember!" Cid pointed out. He was about to go on when the woman gave them both a positively icy look.

_If looks could kill, he'd be barbecued,_ was the thought that crossed Sora's mind.

The woman walked over to the three teenagers. "Lightning Farron." She held her hand out to shake, almost stiffly.

"Hi, uh...Lightning." Sora returned the handshake politely like his mom had taught him. Despite being a little naive, Sora could tell this lady wasn't one for sunny small talk. "You're new here, right?"

Lightning went right to the point. "I'm...a refugee. I woke up here after my world was destroyed. Schoolboy there was the first one to find me." Leon scowled darkly at the nickname.

"Schoolboy? I've heard worse." Sora said, not really concerned.

"So've I. So...Sora." She folded her arms and ran an analytic eye over him. "You're the Keyblade's Chosen One, apparently."

When Sora summoned and then banished the Kingdom Key, Lightning merely nodded, since that had been what she was expecting. "Don't screw up," she said bluntly.

Sora grinned. "Don't worry. I won't."

"If he does, Kairi and I can beat some sense into him!" Riku added. The woman's only reply was a small smile and a shake of her head.

"Sora, Riku, Kairi," the voice of Yen Sid boomed. The trio broke off the conversation and turned to look at the wizard. "While I understand the need to...catch up with old friends and make new ones," he said, making Sora and Riku cringe halfheartedly, "there is a more pressing matter at hand. If you would be willing to tell your friends about your most recent adventures, I think it would benefit us all greatly."

Sora nodded, and once everyone was listening, he began to tell the story.

* * *

_An unknown room, cavernous and cast in shadows..._

"So he managed to fight off the forces of darkness. Hmph. He's getting stronger."

A mad cackle. "WAAHAHAhohohoho! That little pipsqueak bashed Xemnas AND Ansem?!" The insane voice blew a razzberry. "Thhbbbpppttt! Bleh! Looks sunnier than that self-help author I blew to shreds last week!"

The first voice turned ominously dark. "Be quiet." Feathers rustled in the dark.

The second one ignored the first, instead eyeing the hologram of Riku, the green glow briefly illuminating garish makeup and bright clothing. "I wonder how strong that kid he's with is. He's got darkness in him, right? Should be fun to toy with, eh?" A moment of silence. "...Saaaayyyy, he kinda looks like you! Same hair color!"

A sound of derision. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

"Swoggle me eyes!" blustered a sea captain's voice. "That brat Riku's turned traitor! All for that bunch of bilge rats!"

"Bilge rats indeed, Hooky! Blech! Let me roast the duck, pleeeaaase?" simpered the cackling voice.

A set of new footsteps approached the table, accompanied by the stench of death and the glow of two evil crimson eyes in the darkness. "He will not stand against us for long, jester. I come ever closer to locating my source of ultimate power."

"Fine, finefinefinefine, whatever," the second voice simpered, its owner waving a hand in dismissal. "Just let us all know when you've got it, and we'll have ourselves a nice big...RAMPAGE OF DESTRUCTION!" The voice shot up into an excited shriek of mad glee, then quickly descended as the voice added, "Oh, and don't forget the Heartless. They're so much fun to set loose on the innocent bystanders!"

"What else does one do with tools?" said a calm, deep voice, apparently belonging to an older man of high stature and importance. "We have found several wandering remnants of my old home. Though it no longer remains whole, I have obtained a vital object of leverage against the ones who foolishly stood against the reign of my kind. Even now, these fated ones search for this place, my wandering vessel. But no matter, of course. The darkness will shield it from their prying, make no mistake." A deep laugh echoed. "As for those creatures crafted from darkness, I shall find use for them as more heed our call and join our humble council."

CLONK! Someone ran into something in the dark with a surprisingly hollow thud. "Ow. Umm, why are the lights off in here? Ooh! What's this thing here? Wonder what this button here does..." Something sparked and cast fizzling bolts of electricity over a bulky, beefed-up man somewhere across the room. _Bzzt-! Bzzarrp-! Bzzit-! _

A slap of a palm against someone's face. "Kro-onnk..." muttered an old woman. "We're trying to figure out a way to get rid of that blasted Kuzco!"

Thud. "Sorry - " _Zzzt! _"- ma'am!"

"Ugghh..." A heavy sigh of annoyance from the old woman's voice. "Please tell me I'm not the only one dealing with dunderheaded buffoons..."

"He-hey, don't I know it!" a suave, smooth-talking voice interjected as another joined their gathering. "I gotta deal with Pain and Panic...keep Wonderbreath and his high-and-mighty Pops on their toes more than ever nowadays." Something flared red, crackling with flame. "THEY DRIVE ME CRAZY!" The red flare vanished. "But hey, I'm not complaining. We've got ourselves some pretty good odds this time around, y'know, aheheheh...what with _them_ backin' our little deal."

"Old baldy and his circus? Pffft," the insane voice sneered.

"Do not deign to mock the one who has seen fit to gather us together." This new voice echoed eerily with dark power as the group's leader eased into the dim light from the hologram. Clad in a long black robe with a thick streak of dark purple fabric down the front, the woman's skin was pale green, her features sharp and almost beautiful if it weren't for the horned headdress she wore and the gleam of evil in her eyes. She clutched a tall staff topped by a glowing green orb in one long-fingered hand.

Maleficent peered down at the hologram of Sora, Kairi and Riku as they laughed and talked to whomever they were with. "Besides...Xehanort has told me it is high time we put our plans into motion. So...will they be able to bring back those whom that boy has locked away? Or will Xehanort drag him and his princess into the depths of the abyss?" She smiled. "Either way, we may have our own uses for those Keys, won't we?"

* * *

It took a while for Sora and Riku to finish explaining their most recent adventure. By the end, Yuffie was practically doing the jitterbug, she had so many questions...and Yuffie-isms.

"OMG, those Dream Eaters sound sooooo CUUUTE!" she squealed when Sora was talking about the frankly adorable creatures he'd met in the Realm of Sleep. "S'pecially those little Meow Wow guys! How many of them were helping you out?"

Sora and Riku both laughed out loud. "More than either of us care to think about, Yuffie," Riku replied for both of them. "But hey, it was a blast, and they were fun to have around in a fight. What more can we ask for?"

Aerith was smiling. "They sound like happy little creatures, don't they?"

"Despite their name, yeah. Though there were plenty of bad ones."

"Oh?" Aerith tilted her head to one side for a moment before she remembered. "Oh! Right, there's two kinds."

"Spirits, the good ones," Sora said readily...

"And Nightmares, the bad guys," Riku finished for him.

"Hold on." Cloud held his hand up suddenly, but it was as if he were listening for a sound none of them could hear, instead of ready to ask a question. His eyes were directed up at the ceiling, roving slowly about, and there was an odd expression on his face. He frowned over at Tifa after a second or two of this. "...do you hear that?" Everyone went silent and listened as carefully as possible, staring up at the air, or at the windows.

Five seconds went by...then ten.

Fifteen.

Laguna shrugged. "I don't hear anything."

"Dad, quiet."

"Hey, he called me dad!" Laguna hissed to Cid. Cid grunted, still listening for whatever Cloud had heard.

Mickey was the next to catch something. His big ears twitched slightly, and he began to smile. "Well, I'll be..." the mouse king said to himself.

Tron's voice crackled through. "Victor Alpha Juliet One, approaching Radiant Garden on bearing twenty three degrees, altitude dropping from 65,000 feet at Mach 2."

"Those are Gummi engines." Leon said a few moments later.

"Gummi...those are those ships you use, right?" Lightning said, turning towards Leon's end of the table. "They can travel through space."

Cloud nodded and Tifa explained softly, "The three people we mentioned have their own Gummi Ship, but their home's a long way from here. It looks like they're here right when they said they would be."

Lightning sighed. "Hmph. How practical."

The rumble had grown to the point where everyone could hear it now, and it grew louder by the second. Soon the whole gang could feel it vibrating inside their ribs, while pens and pencils started to roll around on the table's surface, jostled up and down by the growing thunder of rocket engines. Some of the books fell off their shelves in the library aisles, and Leon's cup of coffee nearly tipped over. Cid's did. In fact it fell right off the table, and the pilot swore as it went all over his trousers. "Wh-what the hell?!" Cid blustered. "They gonna land on the front steps or somethin'?!"

Right as he said this something shot past the library windows, gone in a flash and a WHOOSH of disturbed air that rattled the window panes. The thundering continued, only it was starting to wind down as everyone went to look. Through the glint and gleam from the glare of the sun off the glass, the Committee watched as a Gummi ship soared back around from the other side of the castle, settled into a hover below the level of the library windows, and landed with a SWOOSH and a slight bump in the huge courtyard leading up to the front doors of the castle.

"Talk about making an entrance!" Laguna remarked as they watched the ship power down.

It was by no means a large Gummi Ship down at the entrance. The whole craft was only a bit larger than Sora's _Highwind_, with another fifteen feet added to the horizontal dimensions. But boy, did that make a difference. The main hull of the Gummi ship below them was wide and curved down at the edges, but the underside of the forward two-thirds, and the entire central section from bow to stern were flat. The forward section was bright blue with a golden stripe offset to the right. The rear third of the hull was shaped like two halves of a sausage, split apart by the bubble cockpit and the rudder fins and the two main rocket engines. The pod-shaped sections were a beautiful emerald-green. The weapons - mostly cannons, but a few homing lasers, too - were slung beneath the ship's flat underbelly forwards of the cockpit. Altogether these were a _very_ powerful combination; few enemies would stand a chance. The two rudder fins, one on either side of the cockpit, swept up in a concave curve, white with a blue stripe swooping up the middle. Two larger wings jutted out from the sleek sides of the ship, placed at the same spacing on the hull as the cockpit and rudders. Those implements - the wings, the cockpit, the engines, the fins - were situated at the rear of the Gummi Ship, to ensure plenty of room for its defensive armament. Easy to upgrade and armed to the teeth.

_Starseeker 1_.

Yen Sid walked up behind them and nodded. "They have arrived."

"Yep! Hey, look! Here they come!" Yuffie yelped. The ship's landing ramp was just visible, and then one, two, three people walked off the ship before heading towards the castle entrance.

Once everyone had gathered back around the table, they waited. And within a few minutes the doors into the library could be heard creaking open again. "Hello...?" a woman's voice called. Three sets of footsteps, one confidently measured, one more feminine with the clack of boot heels, and one distinctly heavy with power approached through the aisles...until the trio from the Gummi Ship appeared around the corner one by one. All three of them were familiar to the Restoration Committee. After all, they'd been guarding Sora's back for several years now.

The first one to enter was their "leader", who stood strong at six feet tall. He wasn't as lanky as Sora, but had a more stalwart build similar to Riku. Nevertheless, he was still on the lean side, with long legs made for quick footwork and muscled arms toned with six to seven years of swordsmanship. His spiky-ended brown hair was thick, like Leon's, only shorter, but better kept, and it flared out slightly at the ends in the back. His bangs were combed up, the ends curling naturally over to the right like short, cresting waves. His angular, square-jawed, expressive features displayed a warm smile that crinkled the corners of his caramel-brown eyes, which were twinkling behind a pair of half-rimmed glasses. Both eyes, if one were to look close enough, were flecked by tiny lines of shimmering silver light. "Hey, everyone. We're back!" he said, before apologetically running his hand through his hair. "Sorry we're late." The young man's voice was expressive, like his face, and somewhat deep in timbre; a tad deeper than Riku's. He was dressed for travel, adventure, and other feats of derring-do. Up top he wore a silver-gray and black athletic jacket over a partially zipped gray vest. Under those two layers was a black and gray t-shirt with a small gray flame motif on the right side of his chest. At his left hip hung a fair-sized gray and black carry case made of obviously tough, waterproof fabric. It was buckled up tight. He also wore grey pants with armored black harness boots. The thick belt around his lower waist was actually a shoulder harness that supported his carry pack; the front of the harness had a few attached pouches for carrying various supplies. Attached to this harness, on the man's left shoulder, was a complex spaulder of odd silver, black and gold armor. The shoulder pad looked slightly like a button, bordered as it was on the crown by a ring of gold metal. All that said, it made for a rather interesting picture. His companions were no less unique.

"Hey, everybody!" The only woman of the trio was slightly shorter and certainly slimmer than her two friends, at around five feet nine inches tall. Her medium-blonde hair was long and thick and shimmered with faint golden-red highlights when the sun hit it right. She kept it tied back in a low, loose knot near the base of her neck. Her face had the gentleness of Kairi's, but also the underlying ice of Lightning's heart-shaped countenance. Her bangs swept down to the right across her forehead; several strands floated free, curving gracefully in front of her cloudy-sky-blue eyes. Her eyes had a vibrant and kind-hearted spirit to them. Despite her slender and gracefully curved frame, the woman's arms, legs and torso were toned and tight with lean muscle built from several years of gymnastics and warrior training. Her attire was slightly different—a zippered white traveling vest highlighted with blue and gold, a deep blue t-shirt, a blue-white bell sleeve on her right arm, a simple blue and white decorative metal greave and spaulder on her upper right arm that held her sleeve up, and fingerless gray gloves with knuckle guards. Her tight-fitting blue denim pants were adorned with a few black belts on the upper and mid thighs that held a few attachable black leather pockets, and the hems were tucked into armored, side-zipped leather boots that came almost up to mid-calf. A split fabric sash of simple white fabric hung from her waist down to the back of her knees. She glanced at her friend in the glasses and cleared her throat sharply. "Ahem!" When her companion looked over she gestured at his face. "You forgot to take off your reading glasses again," she sighed.

"Oops." Some of the younger people in the room snickered as the young man's cheeks turned slightly pink, and he hastily pocketed his glasses. It was a bad habit they all recognized. As far as they'd seen, he'd gone through at least four pairs of spare glasses because he'd gotten them smashed in the heat of a fight.

The last of them folded his brawny arms over his chest as he scanned the group. He was older than the other two by two years, and had short, almost crew-cut black hair and a broad face framed by lush, short sideburns. His narrow eyes were light gray; a few flecks of amber brilliance glinted in their depths. Towering well over six feet, he wore a midnight blue muscle shirt and a ragged-edged zippered black vest underneath a long black trench coat, all of it tight with bulging muscle. His right arm was encased by a complex gauntlet of black and midnight blue metal and protective fabrics. Black cargo pants with a red tribal-style symbol on the left pant leg and lightly armored black combat boots covered the lower half of his body. His face was wide and sharp at the edges, but youthful, and his eyes glimmered energetically, roving quickly around the table. "Wow, Tifa, you weren't kidding when you told us about new faces, were you?" he said with a grin. His voice was a lower baritone than his best friend's, and slightly rough. Sora thought he sounded a bit like that guy from the Grid, Kevin Flynn.

"Who are they?" Lightning demanded, her right hand clenching tight on her gunblade's hilt. She'd never trusted strangers at first glance, and these three were stranger (pun intended) than most. Her keen eyes took note of something common between the three. Around their necks, on simple leather strings, dangled individually stylized necklaces shaped like an angular heart; the heart's point was replaced with a very basic three-pointed fleur-de-lis. That symbol, she remembered from her readings, was the Mark of Mastery. The man in gray's had wings; the woman's had a star behind it, and the brawnier man's had a black letter: Ω, "omega". Somewhere on their clothing was a clip that was the same shape.

"At ease." Yen Sid wore a smile as he glanced in Lightning's direction. Lightning relaxed, albeit reluctantly. "For those of you who do not know them, these are the young Masters I mentioned earlier; Vanner Fyrwinde," he gestured to the young man in gray, "Johanna Stellmaris," the woman, "and Aradorn Thorne." He pointed out the tall, brawny man in black and blue. "Welcome back...Guardians of Light."

To be continued...

* * *

**A/N:** And so the OCs make their official appearance. I have been working on them for years. Further note: This story, though it is first in a series, is the last in the saga. Why did I do this? So that we can go back after this whole shindig is over...and figure out just how these guys got to this point.


	3. Chapter 3: Dawn of Darkness

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy franchises or their characters. This is a fan work dedicated in honor of the brilliant staff of Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios, who are the legal owners of these works. The only thing I own are the original characters.**

**A/N & Special Disclaimer: **One of the characters noted in this chapter was created in honor of Walt Disney, one of America's greatest visionaries and entrepreneurs in film and entertainment. Without Walt, I wouldn't be writing this story, and we would have none of the fantastic films he left behind as his legacy. We wouldn't have Mickey and Minnie...or Donald and Daisy...or Goofy. So, while the character depicted may end up resembling him as far as ideals, it is not intended to BE Walt himself, and is a posthumous character.

Hey, Walt? (raises a glass) This one's for you.

* * *

Ch 3: Dawn of Darkness

Seeing so many old friends in one place made me grin wider than I had in a long while. Master Yen Sid's welcome was more...well, full of pride than I'd expected.

Speaking of Yen Sid, by the way, I'd completely forgotten to say a better. "It's good to see you after so long, Master Yen Sid."

"Likewise, Master Fyrwinde. How go your duties?"

"Swell, so far." I shrugged my shoulders. "Our world's been quiet...though there's been some weird hype about some billionaire named Tony Stark on the news lately. He's our world's new superhero; wears some kind of techno-savvy battlesuit and calls himself Iron Man." I gestured to myself with a grin. "Looks nothing like us, though."

"Sorry we're late." Johanna (well, most of us call her Jo) added, repeating my earlier apology. "Our ship needs an overhaul because _someone," _she directed a sharp glare in my direction, "hasn't been taking care of her often enough."

I scowled indignantly, which won out over any embarrassment. "Hey!" I snapped. "Watch it! I checked _Starseeker_ out every week!"

"_Checked_, Vann." Jo pointed out, placing both hands on her hips. "Not _repair_." I huffed, but let the matter drop. She had me beaten. For now.

Aradorn scratched his head. "So, why are we here, exactly?" he asked.

Yen Sid swept his arm towards the members of the Committee, and to Sora, Riku and Kairi. "We have much to discuss. I have summoned you here to brief you all on what has transpired since last we spoke...for it seems that darkness is on the rise once more." He looked to Sora and Riku. "Sora and Riku have both taken their Mark of Mastery Examination, but only Riku passed in this case." I sighed in dismay, giving Sora a sympathetic look. _Darn. Sora's been doing so well, and he didn't make it to Master._

"How come only Riku made Master?" Jo asked.

"Part of it was due to his control of his own abilities. Sora's failure was due to forces beyond my control...the forces of darkness."

Sora fidgeted. "I nearly fell to the darkness. I didn't see through the nightmare the enemy was weaving around me. That's why I didn't make it."

Yen Sid gave our friend a comforting smile. "Don't worry. You are well on your way, Sora. This next quest shall serve as your second attempt at the Mark of Mastery exam, to a point, as well as training for Kairi."

"How so?"

"Masters Thorne, Stellmaris and Fyrwinde will be keeping an eye on you via these devices." Yen Sid elevated one hand, and six odd communication devices floated up from beneath the table, heading to each of us in turn. I caught mine; it looked like a cell phone, only with a circular, bubble-shaped screen. "Once you have opened a world's gate, they will flash, alerting them to your success. However...your true test will be a two-person mission, Sora."

Sora regarded Yen Sid with a confused look. "Only one of them will be able to follow you to where you will be going," Yen Sid explained vaguely.

"And where's that?"

"I cannot say," replied Yen Sid. "You will be informed when the time is right."

Time. And there lay the big issue. My smile faded and I fidgeted a bit, noticing the others' faint looks of unease. Hell, _I_ felt uneasy. We didn't have much of it, not if Yen Sid had actually come out of his tower to travel all the way here.

"I have some grim news for the Committee, as well as the Guardian Masters. The task of defeating your enemies will be much more difficult than you believe, Sora. We have numerous enemies this time. Enemies who doubly outnumber the group you see here. Instead of one gathering of darkness…there are now two. All of them are extremely dangerous, and share a vested interest in your failure."

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy all swallowed.

"First..." Yen Sid gestured off to the right with a flick of his hand. A magical hologram appeared in a burst of smoke in the space under the stairs, displaying a hooded figure I knew and dreaded. Sora and Riku both folded their arms and scowled.

"Organization XIII…" I muttered, before raising my voice to normal. "So…"

"Those of the Committee know the general facts. The Organization has been fully resurrected, with twelve various vessels of Xehanort," Yen Sid nodded. "However, I did not touch on the specifics just yet. We know of the false Ansem's return," (Ansem, Seeker of Darkness appeared in holo-form), "as well as Xemnas, Isa, and Braig."

I barely stopped myself from letting out an angry growl at the sight of the scarred man with the eyepatch. _Smart-mouthed prick... _I closed a fist.

"There is also one other whom Riku and Sora have both encountered who has proven to be exceedingly dangerous." A shorter figure flipped his hood off and revealed a youthful face with the same eyes and hair as old Master Xehanort. "This is Young Xehanort, and he has a frightful power over time itself. He has been gathering the various vessels."

"Great, a walking temporal flux…" Lightning muttered. Though she sounded unconcerned and tough, she shifted slightly in a way that told me she was unnerved.

Yen Sid gave her an oddly praising look. "That is more or less what this young man is, Miss Farron. This young man hails from an alternate timeline, and he nearly succeeded in making Sora succumb to darkness while he was in the Realm of Sleep."

My heart clenched. Sora cringed in response to the sorcerer's comment.

"Young, smart and dangerous…great," Jo said, to break the tense shock. "What next?"

"This." A final holo-figure flared up, and everyone in the room tensed; even Yen Sid seemed to get a little edgy. The figure wore a complex black and white overcoat with red lining over a white buttoned shirt, black pants and high black boots. He stood slightly hunched over, like a gargoyle, his knees bent slightly for balance. That weak posture was a ruse, though. There was no mistaking the veiled speed and power in the old man's wizened body. Gnarled hands clad in white gloves were clasped behind his back, and his features were lined with seams of age. His head was bald, except for a silver goatee, his ears were slightly pointed… and then there were his eyes. Bright, flaming gold, shrewd and cunning in a face twisted in a close-mouthed sneer that made one believe the owner was amused by something that was never funny to begin with.

**Master Xehanort.**

The sight put utter hate in my heart. "_You…_" I snarled, although I'd suspected who the leader was already. I felt my voice rasp in my throat, deepened by anger to a dangerous rumble.

Ara's face was stonier than Mount Everest. "He's back?" He said it as a rhetorical question.

"He has returned," Yen Sid told us all as he eyed the hologram of Master Xehanort with a dark look in his eye. The Committee didn't quite seem to understand, so Yen Sid explained. "Master Xehanort is the original incarnation of the Xehanort you knew as Ansem the Wise's foremost apprentice. Master Xehanort is Number 1 on this new Organization's hierarchy."

"For good reason," I added, at which Yen Sid nodded.

"He has become stronger than ever before. The others are twelve vessels carrying splinters of his dark heart within them. Thirteen darknesses, fated to clash with seven lights."

Silence fell as Sora, Riku and Kairi glanced at one another, the Restoration Committee looked at them, and Mickey looked at me, Jo and Ara.

I flinched at the flashbacks to the beginning…for us, it'd been about four years…but here in the rest of the worlds, at least eleven, twelve years ago. Aqua, Terra, and Ven. Two of them had been pulled apart and Aqua was missing altogether, more than likely lost somewhere in the darkness. _No one deserves a fate like that,_ I thought. _Especially not people like them._ My teeth ground together. _Xehanort needs to pay for what he's done. He's hurt a lot of worlds, torn a lot of lives apart beyond the ones in here; Sora's barely sixteen and look what _he's_ been through._ I took a sidelong look at Johanna and Ara and sighed. Even my friends and I were suffering because of Xehanort's ambitions. We'd been drawn in and had grown up a lot…but we had the scars to prove it, emotionally speaking. All of us could remember the monsters, the evil…I'd woken up in a cold sweat more times than I care to count, and at least twice a week either Jo or Ara would ring me up at night, their voices shaking with fear.

And look where we were now; back in the thick of things with the old gang, the Restoration Committee, discussing and planning a way to stop Xehanort…a war. A blasted war. _Damn._ The price of freedom sure was steep.

"There's more, isn't there?" Johanna asked.

"That is why I have summoned you three," Yen Sid stated. He dismissed the holograms of the Organization. "There is a second group that must be defended against: the Oblivion Order. It is a gathering of evil that has formed a tentative alliance with Xehanort. But make no mistake," he intoned, "These beings are just as dangerous as the Organization, if not more so. One of their greatest has already been confirmed for certain."

Yen Sid flicked his hand again and I felt my heart skip a beat and start to thud hard at the figure he conjured up.

_THD-dmp…THD-dmp…THD-dmp…THD-dmp…_

Even as a projection, he was unmistakable. Clad in a black, slightly tattered leather coat, a leather belt around his midriff and black pants and boots, the man's silver hair flowed down his back well past his waist, and his arch-swept bangs came down almost to his collarbones, framing his face. Three jet-black angel wings moved slightly in an unseen breeze, two at his waist and one on the right side of his back, and his eyes were piercing green with slitted pupils.

Sephiroth.

I gulped and heard Ara mumble, "Oh, we are _so_ dead…" in a meek voice that did not seem to belong to him.

Yen Sid's face was grimmer than ever. "Sephiroth. The former General of SOLDIER. Years ago, he became something for all beings to fear."

Cloud had gone white as a sheet. "No…How…? I beat him!"

Tifa put a hand on his arm gently. "He's Sephiroth. No one's blaming you."

Rinoa swallowed hard. "So…Sephiroth's one of the higher members. Then that must mean Xehanort's controlling him."

Merlin shook his head. "No, no, my dear, I would hardly accuse him of such a thing. Sephiroth, as he is now, defers to no one."

"You knew him, didn't you?" I asked.

Leon spoke up. "Everyone knew about him. He was once the city's greatest hero; the Great General Sephiroth, veteran of Adel's Siege…like me and Rinoa…"

"A story for another time," Yen Sid interjected when questions arose. "The Order is more numerous than the Organization, and is being led by an old enemy of ours."

"Let me guess," Sora spoke up, his blue eyes sarcastic. "Maleficent?"

"Yes. And I think that Xehanort and Maleficent are trying to settle some long-ago debt she owes him, in return for access to all his resources."

"Figures..." I scoffed under my breath.

Then Yen Sid spoke again, and this time there was something different to his voice. "However…" he began. Everyone perked up. "The stars seem to have a contingency plan of their own in place."

_What's he getting at? _I wondered. Ara asked the question for me, more or less. "What, are we gonna try and beat Xehanort at his own game? Like, a back-up plan?"

"Yes. How, though, I am not sure." Yen Sid folded his arms, staring resolutely at the three of us. "Even with the three of you guarding Sora, that is not enough to keep the Oblivion Order away from him. And should they distract you, Sora, then Xehanort will use that to his advantage."

"Can't let that happen. Any ideas, guys?" I asked the Restoration Committee.

Several ideas were presented and thrown out. Then came a good one. "If this creep thinks he's got all the pawns taken and outnumbered, then why not put a few pieces on the board he isn't expecting?" Lightning suggested.

"How so?" Sora asked.

Lightning looked at Yen Sid. "Let a member of the Committee go with these three." She jerked her head towards me, Ara and Jo. "That's four altogether, plus them helping Sora," she added, gesturing towards Donald and Goofy. "More backup lets him focus."

I have never seen Yen Sid outright surprised before, but Lightning's statement took him off-guard for a second. His eyebrows rose sharply and his eyes widened a bit. It was obvious he hadn't thought of this, and there was a reason for it. The great wizard's surprise quickly morphed into disapproval. "Miss Farron, the world order would be in very grave danger if one of the Committee were to go along on the journey. While the Keybearers are authorized by their weapons, the Committee might not be."

The soldier clicked her tongue in frustration. "I'll go." When Yen Sid eyed her dubiously, she tapped her chest right over her heart to make some kind of point. Whatever it was, it was lost on me. "I've got a timer that none of you do. It's game over eventually, unless I find -" She halted and turned away with a dark sigh, her hands on her hips. "Besides," she went on, "Aren't the worlds in enough trouble already?"

Yen Sid folded his arms and looked down at the table with a long, deep sigh. "I will...consider it. But the worlds themselves will be watching carefully if you do."

"Are you volunteering to come with us? Is that it? Er...Lightning, was it?" I asked, feeling it was about time to butt in.

"I told you already." Her tone was still scalding. "It's Lightning Farron. And I'm not doing this for you."

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Yen Sid retreating elsewhere.

I folded my arms. _Geesh...quite a bite to that one. What's her problem, anyway_? "Why, then?" Johanna asked, not fazed. "It's not just revenge; there's something else."

"..." Lightning's face turned icier. Finally, she admitted, "I'm looking for someone."

I pressed my lips together to stop a sad scowl. _Aqua...Terra...Ven... _"In a way?" I said, "so are we."

"So'm I!" Sora piped up. "I'm gonna be searching, too."

"For what?" Lightning asked, turning to him. She had the look of a teacher annoyed with a particularly belligerent student.

"Those who're hurting." When Lightning didn't react at all Sora cringed and rubbed his neck. "...so the King said, anyway."

"I know what you mean," I said quietly. ..._and_ who_ you mean... _I added in my head.

Yen Sid's robes rustled and the old man looked slowly around the table before settling on me, Ara and Jo.

"There is also a new source of information that did not occur to me until recently," said the old sorcerer. "The founder of Disney Castle and the surrounding city was a man named Walter I knew ages ago. He once researched the worlds much like Ansem the Wise did, and was one of my greatest friends," he said, "A Keyblade Master like I, as a matter of fact. And...he hailed from your home world, Master Fyrwinde."

A bunch of the others gasped.

What? I stared at Yen Sid outright, shocked that I'd never seen it before now. After a moment my forehead became reacquainted with my palm. "Of course…" I murmured as it hit me. (The fact, not my hand. My hand already did that.) Back home, Walt was regarded as an outstanding visionary, but this?! I'd never have imagined it.

"Walt was pretty well-known even when he was younger…so I've read, anyway," I said after a moment, when Yen Sid didn't continue. "He...kept telling people to follow their dreams and all, but he apparently vanished a lot, sometimes for years at a time." I shrugged. "Nobody knew where he went off to. Then he pretty much disappeared."

Yen Sid held up a finger to interject, arching one stern eyebrow. "Ah, that is where the Keyblade comes in. Walt was chosen after he found a Keyblade accidentally. I met him when our master found him, and had the privilege of preserving the peace alongside Walt during my younger days. He was and remains one of the greatest men I have ever met. He possessed a sense of duty, and had a steady heart to go with it." The old wizard's gaze grew distant. "Walt was always drawing whenever he had time to spare…painting and sketching the worlds and the people he saw during his travels…" Yen Sid mused while he smiled to himself. "He certainly showed his skills in portraiture."

I snickered at the thought of a younger Yen Sid posing for a portrait.

Yen Sid either didn't notice or didn't care. "I retired well before Walt ever did. Out of the four of us, Walt was the youngest after myself, Xehanort and Eraqus. In his later years, Walt became the constitutional monarch of Disney Kingdom on request from its inhabitants, and he adopted Mickey after the young lad was orphaned. Thus, he retired and practically formed Disney Kingdom on his own, with Mickey and Minnie as his successors. Sadly, I outlived him by a fair number of years." He paused before shaking his head. "My apologies, friends…an old man tends to wander down the lanes of memory at inopportune times."

"I know the feeling, my friend," Merlin sympathized, making everyone laugh.

"Now then…Walt once knew Master Xehanort as a friend, just as I did. The two of them were always intrigued by the Keyblade War and its origins. On the one hand, Master Eraqus trusted our master and took the base stories' warnings to heart. He did not interfere beyond what he already knew. On the other hand, Xehanort, Walt and I were a bit more intrigued, and felt some further study was needed. I did so, however, with some reluctance. While we were Masters, Walt chronicled his research on these legends in a collection he christened the "Master's Reports", also recording parts of his own life within this collection; his own legacy, one might say. As time went by, Walt and I became quite unnerved by what our findings recorded and foretold. I ceased my scholarly search after several years, while Walt continued his own studies for a few more before finally ceasing. We often met and discussed these findings, but Walt never fully revealed what he knew. Master Xehanort, however, continued to wander the cosmos, seeking out the greater mysteries behind the legend, until Kingdom Hearts and the Keyblade War became an outright obsession." Grim, the sorcerer leveled another penetrating stare at those of us who were Keyblade Wielders. "You know what the man has done since then."

Merlin fidgeted and the room fell silent as everyone paused and remembered the struggles they'd faced. Sora wore a frown. "But—wait a minute…" he pondered. "What about these… 'Master's Reports?' Are they still around?"

"Yes…however, Walt hid these records somewhere, much like Xehanort hid his own reports. Since Xehanort was always wandering the worlds, Walt may very well have found some aspect that escaped Xehanort's attention. Part of your mission, all of you, will be to search for any _clues_ Walt may have left for you to follow. Be warned," he added, "Master Walt had a rather devious sense of fun. His clues are not always apparent, and I recall several prank incidents during training that involved Walt. His booby traps are never deadly, but they never fail to embarrass and drive off the unwary."

"Gosh, he always used t' tease me about that time I messed with your hat," Mickey said sheepishly.

"And I'm very glad you took that particular lesson to heart, Mickey. Magic is not for the faint of heart, and Walt excelled at the mischievous kind."

"Okay, okay, we get the picture. Sounds great. But what's the big deal about this Walt guy, anyway?" Yuffie demanded.

"In his reports, Walt recorded quite a few worlds that we have not yet explored." Yen Sid gestured with his hands and an old notebook appeared. "He entrusted two locations to me, in this notebook, the first of his reports. But before he passed on, he informed me there are more worlds to be discovered in his other reports. He may very well have hidden a few of his reports on some of these unexplored worlds."

"Okay!" Sora said eagerly, "That sounds easy enough."

"So, let's recap for a sec," I blurted after a moment. _Might as well take charge for a second._ "While you guys," I waved at Sora, Riku and Kairi, "are busy fighting off the Heartless and stopping Xehanort, Jo and Ara and I will be looking for Master Walt's reports, checking on the worlds he mentions, and keeping an eye on you three. Capisce?"

"Right."

"Quite the handful you three've got!" Cid pointed out.

"I guess you're right," said Johanna softly. "But if it's all right with Yen Sid, we can bring someone from the Committee along."

"Lightning, you said you want to come with us, right?"

Lightning glared.

"...Right," I mumbled, "Well, that's taken care of...I hope. We could use an extra hand." I slapped my hands together. "Anyway!" I looked right back at Sora, Riku, and Kairi, who'd been joined by Donald and Goofy, too. "We'll join up with you guys when we can, ok?" I tapped the side of my head. "Stay focused. There's a few places that'll need everybody there." I stopped. "Speaking of focused, Sora, do you remember that one time in Port Royal when you had to-?"

I was interrupted when Johanna stepped in. "You're going to ramble at the rate you're going, Vanner."

"Hey! I'm reminiscing!"

Johanna tilted her head towards me in a teasing smirk. "Oh, shut up." She shooed me away when I didn't move.

Across the room, Goofy's stomach suddenly gave a loud grumble, and the poor fellow got a few stares from the gang near him. Goofy shrugged helplessly. "Sorry, felluhs. Gawrsh, I'm gettin' a li'l hungry."

Huh. Come to think of it, so was I.

Leon spoke up. "Shall we break for lunch, then?"

A chorus of various "Sure!"s, "Yeah!"s, and "You bet!"s answered the question.

Yen Sid smiled. "Then let's continue this later."

* * *

**A/N: **Well, what do you guys think? Am I doing okay so far?


	4. Chapter 4: Lunch Break Lunacy

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy franchises or their characters. This is a fan work dedicated in honor of the brilliant staff of Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios, who are the legal owners of these works. The only thing I own are the original characters.**

A/N: Okay, quick shout-out here! I'd just like to thank my current main readers **Rhino7, Child Of The West Wind, and Shadowclaw98, **for letting me bounce ideas off them and for offering their own suggestions. I also would like to thank **M.L Ayala and WishingDreamer5. **But I certainly wouldn't be at this point without **Rhino7**, who has been my unofficial beta for this and has helped me develop a LOT of the plot line. You, my friend, ROCK!

So without further ado...Chapter 4!

* * *

Lunch Break Lunacy

"What _is_ it with you and pie?!" Yuffie exclaimed. She'd been watching Aradorn shovel down his lunch, which consisted of country-fried steak, French fries, vegetable medley, mashed potatoes, strawberries, and (of course) pie, for the past fifteen minutes with an almost enraptured expression of disbelief plastered on her face.

At this, Ara looked up with a deviously raised eyebrow. His mouth was still half-full of his second slice of Banora White apple pie. After he swallowed part of it first, he replied rather thickly, "We ha'b a _ver'ee_ sp'he'sh'll relaythun'shipth." With that, he promptly went diving back in again with his fork.

"'Special…relationship?'" Yuffie mumbled, looking bemused and a little worried. She stared at the tall, dark and fearsome teddy bear of a man for about five seconds before looking sidelong at Vanner and Johanna. "You deal with this often?" she deadpanned.

"Every day," Vanner replied with a straight face. He tossed the ketchup-dipped French fry in his hand into his mouth, cool as you please, before slicing into the fillet of fried fish that was his main course.

From beside him, Johanna snickered. "Try living with this guy on adventures," she pointed out, setting down her loaded BLT from the deli next door. "One look at a bakery and _ka-pwinng_!" She flicked her hand. "Off he goes!" Ara gave them a way-too-innocent grin around his mouthful of pie, being sure to keep his mouth closed. It made him look like a chipmunk. Yuffie snickered, but Vanner busted out laughing outright at his best friend's ridiculous look.

The walk down to Diner's Drive had been…eventful to say the least. First Donald and Goofy had gotten tangled up in each other on the way down the castle steps, and had taken a tumble. Next had been Aradorn, of all people. On the way down the street he'd caught sight of something interesting. Not watching where he was going, he'd walked straight into a lamppost, bounced off, and fallen flat on his rear, to the mirth of most of the Committee. Even Lightning, who was rarely prone to laughter or even smiling, had cracked a slight grin at the sight. Sora, of course, was clueless, having run on ahead as usual with Donald and Goofy.

Then had come the restaurants. It took a while, with much bickering between most of the founding members. Eventually, everybody settled on three places set close together; one was a family-style sit-down restaurant, one was pretty much fast food the whole way through. And finally, a small deli sandwiched (play on words intended) in between the two.

As Johanna picked up her sandwich again, she let her eyes rove around the long table the sit-down restaurant had set up for them. Laughter and merriment was abounding, which was good. It was rather crowded here, but this wasn't a very big restaurant to begin with, and the Committee numbered at about 20 people.

"Cloud, why aren't you eating anything?" she heard Tifa ask. Cloud's reply was mumbled, so Johanna dismissed it and looked elsewhere.

Dismissing the odd sight of Cid with a mustache of barbecue sauce from his oozy pulled pork sandwich, Johanna noticed one man over in a nearby corner booth. He was casting unsure glances at the group from behind a rather sophisticated-looking laptop, as if thinking 'do I know those people?' Next to him sat a hiking backpack with a laptop sleeve, busting to the seams with all sorts of stuff, from gadgetry to a can of Red Bull. He looked a tad out of place; in fact, he looked…well, different like most people from her homeworld (except for herself and her friends, who fit in fine in Radiant Garden). He wore casual clothing: a dark gray hoodie over a red AC/DC shirt, and what looked to be blue jeans and sneakers. He had short, dark hair and a mustache and goatee, and wore black-rimmed glasses. When he noticed her looking at him he shifted, smiled nervously (it was more of a grimace) and waved, and then went back to his computer. A book lay next to the laptop, but she couldn't tell what it said on the cover.

"So, I was trying to get through this Dreadnought thing—huge, like this giant box with a laser in one side, and I keep getting cut off by all these Nobodies…" Sora was saying to Cid, using one of his hands to illustrate what he was talking about while the other held the remains of a cheeseburger. Vanner glanced up when the conversation registered. "Hey, I remember that thing!" he interjected, causing Sora to look over. "If you ask me…" Vanner said, "It looked a lot like the Death Star from those Star Wars movies back home." Sora nodded but looked confused. "I'll show you sometime," Vanner added.

Riku was lounging in a chair down towards the other end of the table, looking satisfied and cocky as he chatted with the King. His plate had been cleaned off already, and so had King Mickey's.

Leon, Rinoa and Laguna were seated across from them, just down from Donald and Goofy, who were both sandwiched between Kairi and Riku. Leon and Rinoa were trying not to be cute. The ruse was so obvious it was cute all on its own. They kept sneaking glances at each other, and Rinoa kept sneaking fries off of Leon's plate, much to his half-hearted annoyance.

Donald went for the last piece of toast in the center of the table, but was intercepted by Laguna, who grinned good-naturedly at the duck while Donald smoldered in outrage.

"Can't win 'em all, Donald. Sorry." Laguna held the slice up, preparing to take a bite. Glare. He stopped. Glare. He blinked. Glare.

After about five seconds of glaring from Donald, Laguna returned it with a blank stare for a moment. Then he split the slice of toast in two and held one half up. Donald's eyes widened from their former glare to a wide-eyed expectant look. "Here."Laguna tossed the half-slice of toast to the duck mage, who fumbled with it for about three seconds. "Wak! Who-oa…A-aa-a-aah…! Ack!" He finally caught it. "Ahh." He caught Goofy's odd look and glowered. "It's rude to stare!" he told his old friend primly, and promptly shoved the whole slice of toast into his mouth.

Goofy gave him a worried look as Donald chewed. "Gawrsh, Donald, I dunno if yuh want tuh—!" Goofy started to say when Donald suddenly gagged.

Immediately, Goofy snatched up his glass of milk and sloshingly handed it to Donald, who chugged it down in order to soften the bread…and in the process splashed most of it in his own face. "Blechh! Ahh…" The duck spluttered and thumped his chest, and then heaved a sigh of relief.

Lightning cast the two goofs an "are-you-kidding-me?" glance from her spot at the end of the table close to Vanner, Aradorn and Johanna, before stabbing into her salad again. She'd barely spoken a word to anybody. Aradorn finished his pie with a politely muffled belch and immediately tried to ask her what her home had been like. She clammed up even more. "None of your business," she retorted.

"So…You guys ever have something silly happen on your journey, Sora?" Yuffie asked out of the blue, leaning forward on her arms. Sora polished off his burger and folded his arms behind his head. "We-eelll…" he said slowly, grinning from ear to ear, "there _was _that one time when Donald got chased by a bear."

"WHAAT?!" Donald screeched.

"A bear?"

Johanna grinned and ducked her head to hide it. "Oh, yeah, that…"

Sora nodded. "Yep. So we had the camp all set up in Land of Dragons, up in the mountains," he explained, "and Donald went off to get some brush to fuel the fire, and we hear this HUGE growl." By now he was snickering to himself, and most of the Committee (who were listening intently) were also trying to hide smiles at Donald's furious expression. The mage was fuming so hard steam came out his ears. Sora went on to explain the episode. Donald had come tearing into camp with a big black-furred bear hot on his heels. Going lickety-split and screeching at the top of his lungs, the mage had climbed a tree—and Goofy—to get away. In the end, they'd been forced to watch the bear rip through the site like a furry tornado.

"He even got into our potions!" Sora ended, to several snickers. "Guess we learned our lesson, though."

"And what lesson was that?" Tifa asked.

Sora grinned sheepishly. "Don't carry chocolate chip granola bars all the time. We spent the whole night in that tree."

Half the table busted out laughing. Aerith had a hand over her mouth, Tifa was leaning on Cloud, whose jaw had dropped open in amused astonishment, Laguna was in stitches, and even Leon couldn't hold back a snort.

"Speaking of lessons…" the gunblader said once things had quieted a bit, "I learned a big one when I first met Rinoa. Don't forget to ask for a name when a girl drags you onto the dance floor."

"You did that?" Aradorn asked down the table, raising an eyebrow at Rinoa.

"Uh-huh!" Rinoa smiled at her boyfriend, pretending to pout for a second. "He just looked so lonely over there in the corner," she cooed. "And handsome in that dress uniform…" she added. Leon blushed. "So I went right on over there," Rinoa swept her arm in front of her for effect, "and said—"

Leon interrupted. "'You're the best-looking guy here,'" he deadpanned. "'Dance with me?'"

Kairi giggled. "You didn't turn her down, did you?" she asked.

"…"

Rinoa rolled her eyes, jerking her thumb at her boyfriend. "He said 'I can't dance'."

"Oh, yeah right," Riku butted in.

"He did!"

Leon looked up at the ceiling. "And then she tried to hypnotize me." It was mumbled, but still, everybody heard it…except Vanner, who was staring off into space.

"Yep!" Rinoa nodded.

"What'd you say again?" Leon asked her, trying to remember while ignoring Yuffie's giggling and Cid's big grin.

"I think it was 'you're-going-to-like-me, you're-going-to-like-me.'"

Leon shrugged his shoulders. "Sounds about right."

Vanner suddenly spoke up. "Wait, what?"

There was an awkward pause while everybody stared at him, except for Mickey, who ducked his big-eared head with a smile at his friend's unexpected gaffe.

Rinoa shook her head. "Never mind. Anyway, I dragged you," and she slugged Leon in the arm, "onto the dance floor…" ("Oh, hell…" Leon groaned) "…and he did pretty well."

Leon massaged his temples. "No, I didn't."

She swatted him on the arm. "You just had to find your feet, Squall!" Cid and Laguna chuckled.

"That's Leon…"

Vanner smirked. "Speaking of tall tales and lessons learned…" he said. He had to raise his voice to be heard over the laughter. "I got a good one for you guys." He lay down his fork and leaned forward over his nearly-empty plate. "You two remember this," he said to Ara and Jo. "But this was actually back before any of you guys really met us."

Sora sat up a bit. "Yeah?"

Vanner rubbed his jaw a moment as he wracked his brain. "Back home, we used to be gung-ho campers. We loved just taking some time off during the summer and going out with friends."

Ara grinned. "S'mores!"

"That too." Vanner chuckled as he leveled his index finger at his best friend knowingly. "Well, I don't remember _what_ state park it was, but…" he made a choked sound halfway between a laugh and a cough. "Well, we had this clunky old pop-up camper, which is pretty much a canvas tent on a box on wheels, and it was a blast. We'd been there for two days before the third night. Hiking, potluck, mountain biking… Anyway, it's gotta be 2, 3 AM, and I woke up hearing this weird rustling noise outside. Now, Johanna," he went on, nodding to his friend next to him, "was down at the other end of the camper, and she heard it, too. Problem was she wasn't fully awake. And this big lug," he added with a sneer at Ara, "slept like a rock and didn't hear a thing."

"Hey!" Ara bristled indignantly.

"Well, you snore real loud, dude."

Ara gave him a glare that plainly said "Me, snore? Please."

Vanner ignored this. "I sat up and looked out the window; just pushed aside the curtains on the end of the bunk-end and took a peek outside." He paused for a few more seconds, and the lopsided grin that was growing on his face was so contagious even Lightning's face quirked in an expectant smirk. "And the _following_ dialogue ensues."

He pretended to call out in a hushed voice. "Hey, Jo?" Then he pitched his voice to sound like Johanna. "Yeah?"

Back to his own voice. "Uhh…Whaddaya do about skunks in the garbage?"

Johanna saw it coming, and the two of them said it at the same time:

**"Let 'em eat!"**

Sora and most of his friends, as well as Tifa, Rinoa, and Yuffie all burst out laughing.

The group continued story-swapping for a while. Occasionally, a waitress would come back to refill their drinks, but for the most part, everyone had finished eating. Cloud reluctantly (though fondly) recalled his adventures off-world; Rinoa had a few silly ones involving her own wanderings with Laguna, Ellone, Zell, Irvine and Quistis. Occasionally one of the Committee would get up to head for the restroom or take a call on their phones.

"You did what to the guy?!" Vanner had just demanded of Lightning, who regarded him with a cool 'so what' look.

"He was flirting with Serah and being an idiot. What's your problem with it?" she asked coldly.

Vanner flinched at her tone and raised his hands. "Easy…" He drew out the word at the end. "Just wondering."

"I thought there was a rule against meddling with other worlds," Lightning shot back, leaning back in her seat with her flinty eyes still spitting ice.

"Well, Sora here pretty much blew that theory to smithereens," Ara joked. Sora grinned, even though he didn't know what they were talking about. "He's got pals all over the dang place, and they all know he's from another world, but there hasn't been any lash-back."

"Because of that key," Lightning said, ignoring the fact that Sora and Riku and Kairi were now listening in to the conversation.

"And the three of us," Johanna put in, pointing between her and her two friends.

"Speaking of which," Vanner interjected. He ducked down and dug in his side satchel for a moment. When he sat back up he had the notebook Master Yen Sid had shown them at the meeting. "What are we going to do about this hunt of ours?" He flipped open the leatherbound book. Most of the pages were written in English, but one page in the back had the coordinates to the first world, along with a rather cryptic line.

Lightning shifted around the end of the table in order to see better and read aloud. "Corona...where the sun blooms on earth."

"What the heck does that mean?" Ara wondered. Yuffie had been listening in and shared similar thoughts.

Lightning shook her head. "I don't know."

"Ahem!" Everyone looked up; standing near the table was the skinny guy with the laptop Johanna had seen earlier. He adjusted his glasses and rocked back on his heels, giving the Committee a rather nervous wave. "Uh, hi, I'm Riley Poole," He paused and frowned, pointing between Vanner, Ara and Johanna. "I, uh…just couldn't help but hear something about some kind of…treasure hunt?"

"You heard right. More of a clue hunt, really. Are you from Earth?" Vanner asked.

"First off, yes to the first question. I'm…no expert on clues, per se," said Riley, though it seemed a little sarcastic, "but, um…I've had prior experience dealing with, uh, that sort of cool thing and all; not that it really, y'know, matters," he said with a dry look, and rubbed the back of his neck before going on. "So, yeah, um, if you need help figuring out some random clue, here's your man." He chuckled nervously again when everyone just kept staring at him, and rolled his eyes. "Well, Sort of. I'm kind of out of a paying job right now. My best friend Ben decided to go ahead and schmooze his girlfriend, so…poor Riley's got nothing to keep his little paws busy."

"But," Yuffie butted in, "if you're from their world," she said, pointing at Vanner, Ara and Johanna, "how the hell'd you get into Radiant Garden?"

"A magic unicorn picked me up and I flew over the rainbow, through the woods and down the Milky Way," Riley said sarcastically. "Not." He jerked his thumb at the window behind Lightning. "I actually drove my car through this weird, uh, black portal thing last week and ended up here…Pretty much by accident." He glanced out the window at the fire-engine red Ferrari 360 Spyder parked across the street; a small crowd was gathered around the vehicle, admiring its low-slung body and sleek contours.

Seeing this, Riley grinned. He pulled out the car's key fob and pressing the panic button. The car burst to life as the horn blared loudly and the running lights flashed. Several bystanders jumped and stepped back in surprise. "Run, run; it's the hot rod from hell...!" Riley mocked under his breath. He turned the car off and tucked the key fob back in his pocket.

After a moment, the Committee looked back at Riley. "Well, what else've ya got b'sides that hot rod an' a flappin' mouth?" Cid barked out.

"Ohh-kay, then; straight and narrow, Mr. Barbecue Stache." Cid bristled until he realized Riley was right, and hastily wiped his face off on a napkin. Meanwhile, Riley scuffed his shoes on the floor and pushed his glasses up again. "Well, my favorite pastimes include, uhh…" He squinted up into space and started ticking off stuff on one hand. "Adventuring…conspiracy theories…uh, hacking the CIA and the FBI just for fun…oh!" he brightened, "plotting to steal the Declaration of Independence AND aiding and abetting the kidnapping of the President of the US of A… Full pardon," he added quickly, "and basically getting my nose into the real weird stuff that could hurt normal people." He shrugged helplessly, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Story of my life."

"Wait." Ara sat up. "That was _you_ we heard about?"

"You're the guy who helped Ben Gates find the Templar treasure, back home?" Johanna exclaimed. "And Cibola? Riley, last we heard, you were all over the news!"

Riley seemed a little taken aback. "I'm on the news?"

Johanna watched him chew his lip in detached interest. "Yeah," she said, "Ben seemed pretty upset, too."

Riley rolled his eyes. "Psh, hello, best friend here!" he said, as if it was the most obvious thing. "But come on..." he turned solemn. "It's not like I can just call him up or something...my phone's got no signal, and I sure can't check my email."

Thinking quickly, Vanner pulled out his cell phone. "Here." He passed it to Ara, who handed it to Riley. "That thing's got a long-range receiver and transmitter; it can pick up and bounce cell signals from just about anywhere. It's no smartphone," he added, seeing Riley's dubious frown at the black and gray flip-phone, "But there's not much need for those around here. Just press the long-distance call button up at the top."

Johanna held up a finger to warn Riley. "Wait, Riley. Don't tell Ben where you are exactly, just tell him you can't get back for a while and you're doing fine."

Riley groaned. "Aw, come on."

"We can't have people running around in the Lanes Between. THAT's meddling," Sora said to Lightning as well as Riley. "When people from really different worlds start interacting and sharing their knowledge and stuff, that's messing with the worlds." He grinned. "You gotta blend in!"

Donald and Goofy both nodded. "Ah-hyup! Yeah, you gotta make sure not tuh mention what the world yer from is really like!" Goofy said knowledgeably, raising a finger. "Yuh gotta keep the details out, that's all."

"Yeah!" Donald agreed, waggling a feathered, uh, finger at Sora. "And no getting into peoples' business!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora demanded, not caring about the others' annoyed glances. "I'm a Keybearer! I'm supposed to help people in trouble!"

"Not without checking first!" Donald retorted hotly, and the two began arguing. Riku and Kairi quickly had to help keep it under control.

Riley had long since lost interest. He glanced up at Vanner and his friends, then at the Restoration Committee, who were all collectively ignoring Sora and Donald's bickering. "You all right if I do this here, then?" he said, holding up the phone.

Lightning scoffed and rubbed the side of her head. "Anything to shut them up."

"Oh, then I should've gotten two ice cream cones and a puppy. Sure, Riley, as long as you go find an currency exchange..." Still muttering to himself, Riley wandered back to his booth to pack up his computer and the other various things that were hanging out of his backpack. As he was dialing a number on the phone, the group went back to puzzling through Walt's report.

_Beeeep... Beeeeep..._

"Come on, Ben..." Riley hissed through his teeth, listening for the pickup.

_Beeeeep... Beeeep..."Hello, this is Ben Gates."_

Riley perked up at the sound of his friend's voice. "Ben, hey!"

_"Riley?!" _Riley heard his friend turn away from the other end and yell _"Abigail! It's Riley!" _then come back to him. "_Hang on, I'll put you on speaker." _Riley waited a few moments. Then he heard Abigail. _"Riley! Oh my God, are you okay?"_

"Oh, I'm great. Other than being stranded with no way back," Riley replied, sticking his book The Templar Treasure into his backpack.

_"Where are you?" _Ben asked sharply.

Riley sighed. "That's the thing, Ben. I, uh...don't really know much about it. But...I don't think you guys can get to where I am. Which pretty much means..."

_" -You're stuck."_

Riley made himself nod reluctantly. "Yyyeah. You-you know, for now." He chanced a look up at the Committee. They were getting ready to leave. "Don't worry, I think I've found some, y'know, cool people. I've got supporters."

_"Riley, wait."_

"Seriously, Ben, Abigail, I'll be fine. Umm..." he looked up again. "Listen, I got some stuff to do and places to be. So, unless it's life and death and all the weird joys you two stuff into treasure hunting, I'll you back later, capisce? Bye." After hearing his friends' goodbyes he hung up and resumed packing.

Meanwhile, back at the table, Vanner was just polishing off the last of his fried fish. He had just raised the last forkful of tasty goodness toward his mouth when a dark object plummeted from above and plopped onto his plate. Startled, Vanner glanced down at the thing.

It was as if he'd been set on fire and hit full in the face with a blast of with pepper spray. Vanner's eyes flew wide open; with a yelp of horror he shoved away from the table, his face twisted in terror and disgust. Instincts made him hurl a small silver fireball at the object. He moved so fast that his chair tipped backwards right past the point of no return, dumping him to the floor with a deafening CRASH.

Sitting stock-still on Vanner Fyrwinde's abandoned, smoldering plate was a dark brown tarantula the size of a paperback book. Eight beady black eyes; eight long, segmented legs, thick pincers, all bristled and hairy. It was ugly as sin, and Vanner was determined to put as much distance as he could between himself and the thing. The whole Committee stared at him as he scrabbled backwards towards the nearest wall, white as a sheet and trembling like a leaf in a hurricane gale. He was literally panting with fear. "Haah - haah - haah - haah - haah!" Finally, Vanner's back met the wall of the restaurant, but he pressed himself back against the wall for a full seven seconds before he could even begin to calm down. He slumped at long last and groaned low in his throat. His breath came in trembling gasps and he drew a shaking hand down his face, still slumped against the wall.

"Gawrsh, are you okay?" Goofy asked, getting up and going over to him with Sora, Donald, Riku and Kairi. Johanna and Ara quickly ran over to their friend and crouched beside him, Jo with an arm around his shoulder, Ara squatting with his right knee on the ground, using the other as an armrest.

Vanner shuddered for a long moment, muttering under his breath, "Ohhhhh, God...Oh, God...ohgodohgodohgodohgod...sp-spider...ohh, man..." He practically convulsed and hid his face in one hand, trying to calm himself. When Vanner finally managed to regain some of his wits, he looked up shakily at them and murmured, "...I hate, hate, HATE spiders."

Johanna glanced away from him and nodded, adding, "Especially the big ones."

Cloud warily approached the spider; it sat fine and dandy on Vanner's empty dish, and hadn't budged. He placed a hand on the table near it, slamming his palm down hard enough to hopefully garner a reaction. The spider didn't even so much as twitch. Again, the ex-SOLDIER moved, this time grabbing a stray fork. When it still didn't move, he poked at it cautiously. Nothing. Cloud glanced up with an odd look in his eye. "Hey...I don't think this thing's even real."

Leon and Rinoa approached the table, Leon with his gunblade drawn for obvious reasons. with a sudden stab he impaled the ugly arachnid on the tip of Revolver and held it up for a better look. Rinoa made a "bleh" and wore a face of disgust. After a moment's examination Leon's own lip curled down in a dark scowl. "It's rubber," he reported. "Just a fake." He flicked his blade to one side. The newly-revealed prank plummeted into a nearby trash can.

Still being helped up by Johanna, Riku and Sora, Vanner's head lifted, his eyes flashing in outrage. "Then who the hell would - ?" He stopped midsentence.

All eyes slowly turned to the Committee's "Great Ninja". Yuffie Kisaragi's hands were covering her mouth, and she seemed to be desperately holding back...laughter?

Ohh, dear. Vanner's light brown eyes seemed to flash. Their silver-speckled depths turned fierce and fiery as he stared at the young ninja. "Yuffie..." His voice had become a deep and dangerous growl, very different from his usual tone of voice. "When I get my hands on you..." A few flickers of silvery flame coiled around his hand just before his Keyblade, Archangel, appeared in his grip out of a data-like latticework of gray-white light and immaterial feathers. The blade was primarily a light, almost metallic gray with pure white accents. The teeth were shaped like a basic, stylized wing with, and the sharp-tipped blade looked like a tightly closed wing about to fly open, similar to Way to the Dawn. Archangel's hilt was simple, like that of Sora's Kingdom Key or Eraqus's Master Keeper, only pronged at the ends of the guard like the boy's crown emblem. At the base of the blade itself was set a golden gem carved in the shape of the Mark of Mastery, much like the blue gem found in Oblivion. Its Keychain was a gray winged heart.

When Yuffie saw this she finally let out a squeak of stifled laughter. POOF! With a burst of smoke she disappeared before anyone could grab hold of her and reappeared at the door. "Ciao for now, guys!" she giggled, and she dashed out the door with Vanner hot on her heels, spitting mad, roaring "GET BACK HERE, YOU LITTLE...!" His voice vanished when the door slammed shut behind him with a great big WHAM!

Riley walked up to the group with his backpack swung over one shoulder. "Ohhhkaaaayyyy...?"

Tifa looked over at him and shrugged helplessly. "Well, it IS Yuffie,"

"Go figure."

To be continued...

* * *

A/N: That's all for now! See you all soon!


	5. Chapter 5: Fury, Fights and Farewells P1

**A/N:** Gosh, guys, I'm sorry for taking so long to update this! March was a washout. I had a pile of stuff to take care of, and my bedroom at my current college residence (my mother's) flooded thanks to melting snow, so I spent most of that month sucking up all the water that was coming in with a shop-vac. WE KILLED A SHOPVAC. KILLED IT. That's hard to do! So for about a month, I've been displaced with no real "space" of my own, so my muse kinda went on strike. On top of that, it's been nearing the end of the semester here at college. Papers, tests...maths... Blaergh...

But I am glad I could at least help my readers out with their own stories, one way or another.

On that note, Welcome to my ranks of devoted readers, **The Unknowing Herald**! Good to have you as a follower!

And now for the disclaimer...

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy franchises or their characters. This is a fan work dedicated in honor of the brilliant staff of Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios, who are the legal owners of these works. The only thing I own are the original characters.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Fury, Fights, and Farewells (PART 1)

When the Restoration Committee (plus Riley) left the restaurant, the faint echoes of Vanner's pursuit could be heard somewhere in the warren of back streets.

"Yikes; he's got a temper," Rinoa remarked idly, saying goodbye to Irvine and Zell as the two of them left, saying it was their patrol shift.

A shout of "YUFFIE! GET DOWN HERE, you little TWIT!" came from one of the side streets somewhere down Diner's Drive. Moments later a Firaga spell made a deep, thunderous WHUMPF going off, and the whole group flinched, especially Riley.

Johanna simply rolled her eyes and buried her face in the palm of one hand, while Ara seemed to be in a rather silly-looking giggle fit over the whole thing. She looked up at him and glared. "Shut up, it's not funny!"

"Nuh-uh, it's _hilarious_!" Ara insisted before being overcome by sniggering again. It was an odd sight; a man over 6 feet tall built like a tank giggling like a clown on laughing gas.

Sure enough, a cloud of steam and smoke came billowing out of a distant alleyway, and a figure everybody knew to be Yuffie scrambled nimbly out of the smoke, as if a horde of Neoshadows were hot on her heels. The group (and many passersby) watched in exasperated amazement (and in many cases apprehension) as Vanner came storming out of the alleyway after the girl, brandishing _Archangel_ and looking absolutely **furious**.

"Bet you guys a hundred she gets caught," Riley challenged in an undertone as Yuffie fled down the street towards them before taking to a wall and then leaping onto the roof of a B&B. She immediately went ducking out of sight.

"I'll take you up on that," Riku replied after a moment. Sora and Kairi gaped at him.

Ara finally got enough composure back to raise an eyebrow. "You're a betting man?"

"Well, not usually like this…" Riku amended sheepishly. "But there's nothing like watching your friends chasing each other around."

Aradorn paused in thought, then shrugged one shoulder. "True."

Riley suddenly held up Vanner's phone. "Oh, and, uh, here's his older-than-dirt phone back."

"He's not going to _have_ that when I'm through with him," Johanna stated in a steely voice. She snatched the phone from Riley and stuffed it in her pocket.

"Seriously, grounding?" Riley scoffed. "Psh, that was around before Ben Franklin suggested Daylight Savings Time."

Johanna bobbed her head to one side in a resigned shrug. "Whatever works."

"Right. Well, I'm off to find myself a cheap hotel somewhere..." Riley muttered. He left for his car without another word.

Meanwhile, Vanner was stalking down the street, obviously already knowing which alleyway the little prankster had ducked down. His jacket tails went billowing behind him as he walked; it lent a lot to his appearance, and the sheer force of his ire (although not really dark, per se) was enough to make any nearby pedestrians take one **big** step back.

The group watched as Vanner vanished down the street Yuffie had gone down. Seconds later the sounds of Yuffie taunting her pursuer came from the street. "Aww, is the big bad Keyblade Master angry? Aww, ain't that just cute! Come on, you loser, come and _get_ me!" Leon rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Seconds later there came a loud bang; Vanner swore angrily and Yuffie gave a yelp; then a crash, and a trash bin rolled out into the road with a _clatter-bang-clong_, its lid flying free and rolling for a good ten yards. It was quickly followed by another crash and this time a fruit crate flew out. It shattered with a crunch on the paving stones.

Cloud cringed, and when Tifa leaned over to whisper in his ear, he nodded and smirked.

They waited. More objects came flying out, including an unfortunate alley cat.

Yuffie kept yelling indistinct insults, but suddenly her "Oh, CRAP!" came loud and clear. There came the sound of weapons clashing, as well as a brick wall being gouged repeatedly by something—probably the business end of a sword. Well, Keyblade. Whatever.

Yuffie came pelting out of the alleyway without any of her old bravado in place, covered in dust and what looked like a banana peel on her shoulder. Ohh, no. She was RUNNING. She spotted the group and made a beeline for the small crowd waiting for her. The whole Committee stared at her with expressions of complete apathy. Nu-uh, no sympathy from the peanut gallery. Except for Sora; he was torn between frowning and grinning, apparently. Yuffie looked over her shoulder, breathing hard as she literally skidded to a halt in front of them all. "Okay, what the—" she swore "—is his problem?!"

"YUFFIE KISARAGI!" Vanner's voice boomed. Yuffie flinched. The Keybearer came skidding around the corner like a Ferrari on a racetrack. His face was flushed an angry red and his eyes simmered with the outrage bottled up in him as he spotted her. But something made the newer members of the Committee do a double-take. Clenched in Fyrwinde's hands wasn't just one, but **two** Keyblades; one of them was, of course, _Archangel_, his signature weapon; the other one was recognizable as _Star Seeker, _held tight in his left hand.

"Gotta go!" Yuffie she dashed down the other way. Vanner came steaming past a few seconds later, muttering darkly under his breath.

"Hey, man, chillax! She's sorry!" Ara called out at his best friend's retreating back.

Vann halted just long enough to glance back. "I'll cool off when she's _in_ the cooler!" he snapped, dismissing his weapons almost as an afterthought. "Literally in ice!"

Ara let the silence hang as Vanner walked away. "...I'll go get the ice, then!"

Lightning walked up, having been down the street buying a few supplies from the district's item shop. "Ice for who? Fyrwinde, or Yuffie?"

Ara glanced back and paused to think about it. "Uhh, a little bit of both. Vann's for his temper and Yuffie's for all those bruises."

Lightning cast a glance down the street and noted the fact of Vanner's dual-wielding with a surprised blink. "Isn't that a rare thing, to wield two of those Keyblades?" she asked Johanna.

"Well, yes," Johanna agreed, "but it's not completely unheard of, either. I don't really know why he has that ability. Nobody does. He...gained it when Yen Sid made us all Masters."

"Huh."

Meanwhile, Laguna whistled long and low as the gang watched the man storm after the fleeing ninja. "Whoo-ee…Wow. That's one guy I'm real glad I don't have to worry about."

Johanna heard him, and broke off the conversation with Lightning for a second, raising her eyebrow. "Ahem—!" She gestured between herself and Ara when Laguna looked over, her telling look saying it all.

"Oh, uhh…sorry."

"He's not always like this when he's mad…is he?" Rinoa asked.

Ara chuckled."Nahh." Down the road Yuffie ran across an intersection pell-mell, pursued closely by Vanner, who was shaking one _literally flaming_ fist in the air. "He's just real pissed that she pulled that stunt again."

"Wait, she's done this before?"

"Twice," Tifa provided.

Rinoa shrugged. "Guess he lives up to his last name, then. He's an inferno inside."

About two minutes later, a shriek drew all their attention. "_Gangwaayy! Coming through!_" People yelled or gasped in surprise; Yuffie came pelting down Shantotto Parkway with arms waving and feet almost a blur, glancing over her shoulder frantically. Twenty feet behind her was Vanner, his face still beet red and wearing an almost evil glare that could have melted titanium.

By now, most of the Committee felt it was getting old; Tifa and Leon chief among them. "Okay, I think this has gone on long enough," Tifa remarked casually to no one in particular. She removed a pair of black leather gloves from her back pocket and tugged them on. The leather squelched faintly as she clenched the hand she was tugging her second glove onto.

As Yuffie made to run past the Restoration Committee again, her left leg rising in mid-run, Tifa suddenly made her move, quick as a flash. A blur, a yelp, and Yuffie was suddenly hauled up by the ankle, upside down, her hair dangling and her right hand still grasping her shuriken.

A rather grateful Vanner caught up. After chasing the speedy sneak for what had to have been at least a mile at full speed, he was panting, gasping for breath. Dropping down onto his haunches for a second, he only managed to look up long enough to wheeze, "Thanks, Tifa," before bowing his head again.

"Boobs, lemme go!" Yuffie whined, despite her position.

"Don't even." Tifa's Mother-Mode was on full blast. Lightning smirked.

Finally, Vanner got his second wind and looked up. His gaze fixed on Yuffie, and boy, did he look ticked off. He leveled a finger at her face (since he was at her level.) "You try that stunt ONE more time," he growled, "and I don't care if you're a princess or, or a ninja, or- or...whatever. Do that again and you'll get tied onto a raft and set adrift for a week with water and bread. Motion sickness, right?" Yuffie gulped. "Yeah, thought so." He glanced up at Tifa again. "Go ahead." Tifa smirked and let go of Yuffie's ankle. The girl dropped to the pavement in a heap.

"Ready to go?" Leon asked.

Once the day's troublemaker got herself sorted out from getting dropped to the pavement she tried to make another run for it. But Vanner wasn't having any of that, no sir. She'd barely made it three yards in the opposite direction when the Keyblade Master caught up with her. With a dark grin, he grabbed her by the back of her shirt and yanked her backwards off her feet, dragging her backwards. Yuffie squalled and twisted, but Vanner's grip was a vise on her collar.

"Agh! Hey! Let me go, you—!"

Vanner kept dragging her along behind the Committee. "Then say sorry."

"Never!" Yuffie shrieked.

"Ohh, we have all afternoon, Yuffie. Say it."

"NO!"

"I'll keep dragging you."

"Nuh-uh! Hey wait a—!" Bump. "Ow!"

Vanner's voice was mockingly apologetic. "Oops, sorry, was that a step?"

"Guyyys!" Clunk. "Ow!" Bonk. "Leon, _heeellllp_!"

In reply, a loud bark of laughter echoed up from the winding streets.

Sora glanced back at the two of them in confusion as he followed his friends. "Poor Yuffie."

Riku grabbed him in a headlock. "He-ey, I did the same thing to you plenty of times, remember?"

"Owowow! Lemme go, Riku!" Sora squirmed around and managed to break free.

Kairi started giggling, and Sora groaned pleadingly. "Oh, gimme a break already, Kairi!"

"I can't help it!" Kairi giggled, looking at them both with a twinkle in her eyes. "You two would make the weirdest brothers!"

Sora looked at Riku in confusion while Kairi kept laughing. "Huh?" he asked. Riku shared the same feeling. Then Riku began to laugh, and Sora just started laughing right along with his friends.

But...he'd felt an odd pang in his chest when Kairi made that remark. _Why did that sound so...familiar?_

"Hey, you three!" Sora, Riku and Kairi looked up to find Leon waiting for them with a small, wry smile on his face, and Rinoa hanging on his arm. The man beckoned. "Come on. You guys need training."

"You got it!" Sora exclaimed. He started off down the street.

"Oh, no you don't!" Riku snapped goodnaturedly, grabbing his best friend's arm before Sora could run off like an idiot. "I'm the Keyblade Master, not you!"

"Stop pulling the 'Master' card. Besides," Sora grinned. "It's not for long! Race ya?"

"You're on!" Riku challenged.

"Hey, count me in!" Kairi demanded cheerily.

"You bet!" both boys replied.

Leon sighed. "You never change, do you?" He held up one arm. "Ready? GO!"

Sora, Riku and Kairi took off like bullets down the street, glanced back for a second. Behind Kairi and Riku, Yuffie was still squalling for Vanner to let her go while he dragged her down the street. But Sora knew one thing for sure about his older friend, and that was he fully intended to make sure Yuffie learned her lesson.

He grinned to himself and refocused. _I bet I can beat Riku in a race, so let's do it!_

* * *

_10 minutes later..._

_(Vanner's POV)_

"…I'll throw your munny stash in the furnace, then throw your little throwing star there to a Behemoth as a chew toy. And then—oho! And then you know what I'm gonna do?!" I blurted testily as I dragged Yuffie up the path towards the front doors of the castle.

Yuffie squirmed in my grip. "Nooo!"

I stopped, turned back over my shoulder and glared. "I'll make you _fight_ that Behemoth."

"What?! Let - me - go!"

Okay, first things first. I'm usually a calm, laid back kinda guy, but when you start messing with me you're dealing with a crate of C-4. All it takes is the right combination to make me blow up. Pull a prank once, I shrug it off. Twice? I get a little ticked off. But this was the _third time_ Yuffie had pulled this little stunt, and I was frickin' out of fuse. When that happens, you do NOT want to get in my way.

I don't cool down easily, either...

Uh - Hold that thought. She was trying to get loose again.

I snorted. "And then I'll make you fight Ara." The little sneak had been whining the whole way up to the castle. But I wasn't letting her off the hook just yet. Ohhh, no. She had to apologize. And had I gotten an apology? Nope.

Zilch. Zip. Nada. Zero apology.

It only made me all the more ticked off.

"Vann, you can let her go now." Huh? I looked up and found most of the Committee looking at me, with Johanna right at the front, her arms folded and her eyebrows raised expectantly. The gleam in her eyes told me not to argue...or else.

Rule Number 1, everybody: Do NOT test Johanna's patience. It won't go well.

Ara and I have broken that rule WAY too many times...

Grimacing, I hauled Yuffie up by her collar again and set her back on her feet in front of me, then folded my arms and leveled the darkest scowl I could muster at her. "Okay," I started offhandedly, "Now that I've embarrassed you enough, are you ready to say sorry?"

Yuffie stamped her foot indignantly. "**Nu**-uh! You dragged me all the way up here and made me look stupid, mister, so YOU - " she poked me in the chest with a finger " - better apologize first!"

"No more than you deserved!"

"Oh, yeah?!"

I summoned _Archangel_ again out of exasperation. "Well, whaddaya THINK?!"

"Guys - "

"Not now, Jo!"

Yuffie butted in. "Yeah, this is between you and me, mister!"

I looked back at Yuffie angrily. "Stow it, Kisaragi!"

"Guys - !"

"WHOA-WHOA-whoa-whoa-whoa...HEY!" Suddenly Ara stepped in between me and Yuffie, forcing us apart with his burly frame and strength. "Okay, that's enough."

"Wha-? Come on, man, I told her off twice already, and I've had it up to here!"

"I'm not a kid!" Yuffie interrupted snidely.

Ara rolled his eyes. "No, but you're short and starting to annoy. Now _shut up._"

Yuffie sulked.

"Thank you. Okay, first off," Ara said, looking at Yuffie, "_You_ need to apologize to my best man here. You've pulled the spider prank way too many times, so Vann's got every darn right to be pissed at you."

I smirked, but Ara gave me a sidelong 'don't even' look.

"And you, ol' buddy, need to cool off that hot head of yours." He knocked on my head like it was a pot or something. "Hello-o!" Ow. "It's just a doggone prank, Vann. Come on, you shouldn't just be blowing up at the drop of a hat like that!" He leaned over a bit. "What would Sis say?" he asked quietly.

(KHBBS: Destiny's Union)

My heart clenched. I shut my eyes tight as the remark hit home. _Aqua..._

Unbidden, a memory came back to me.

* * *

_*12 years ago...or is it 5?*_

_I groaned. "Dang it..." It wasn't working! _

_"Hey, Vann. What're you doing?" I looked up and found Aqua approaching from the mountain pathway._

_I let my hands drop and snuffed out the magic. "Trying out a new spell I'm trying to create. But I can't keep it stable."_

_Aqua leaned over my shoulder. "Yeah?"_

_I frowned and raised my hands up again. "It's simple enough in concept. All I want to do is fuse a Fire spell with a Holy. But it just doesn't want to stay lit!" _

_"Well," said Aqua carefully, "It's like this." She held out her hand, palm-up, and summoned a Holy spell, just an orb of white light. "Holy's not very hard to do. It comes from the heart, deep inside where you keep what you love most. Like your family and friends." When I nodded, Aqua snuffed out the Holy spell and conjured a fireball. "Then there's Fire, and that's much more...emotionally sensitive. It's a kind of spell that's passionate, and comes from the drive to win, the flame of hope and the will to succeed." She grinned. "Fire's definitely an easy one for you." _

_I snorted. "Yeah, I nearly burned off the Master's topknot the first time I tried it, remember? I got a little too worked up."_

_She giggled. "No, he wasn't. And you," she added, poking my chest with her finger "should know better than to let your temper get out of control." _

_I winced. "Ow."_

_"But it was funny, especially when your friend Ara got him in the face with that Water spell." We shared a laugh before getting back to the matter at hand. "So, all you have to do is try and think of those two at the same time." _

_She told me to close my eyes and focus, which I did. "Now think of light...and fire. Go ahead." _

_I opened one eye. "You're not gonna try it yourself?"_

_Aqua gave me a sisterly glare. "You made this up, silly; you do it."_

_"Okay, fine, fine..." I grumbled. I shut my eyes again and channeled what I could down either arm, and then opened my eyes; in one hand hovered a ball of light, in the other, a ball of crackling fire. _

_"Okay," Aqua said, "Now try combining them. Focus." _

_I inhaled deeply. "The ones I cherish...and the drive to win..." I thought as I brought my hands closer together, cupping them around the magic. At first, when they got too close, both magics guttered and wavered, not wanting to touch. "Come on..." I muttered. Still it didn't work. _

_"You can do it." Aqua told me. _

_Something shifted in me and I had an idea. Maybe it had to be...yes, that might work. I shifted my mindset from two separate emotions and tried focusing on what I wanted to protect. I wanted a bright flame that would blind and burn away the shadows that would most likely end up threatening my friends__ someday. I had to protect the people I cherished._

_Right then and there the two magics suddenly fused together in a burst of light and heat, and I heard Aqua gasp. _

_I blinked. Sitting in my cupped hands __was a ball of fire_, its essence giving off a faint hiss of heat. But it was no longer bright orange. 

_I__t was an eerie silvery gray. A flame that somehow shimmered with its own impossible light as it flickered. It looked like burning quicksilver._

_Aqua grinned. "Nicely done!" _

_I nodded dumbly. Glancing up, I managed a giddy grin. "I...I did it! It worked!"_

_"Well? What're you going to call it?" _

_I looked back down at the orb of silver__y flame and thought about it for a moment. "Ah, I'll keep it simple, Sis," I replied. The flame grew a little larger and a little brighter. "I'll call_ _it...**Holy Fire.**_"

* * *

I blinked away the memory and the burn of a tear in my eye.

Now, Aqua isn't _actually_ my sister, per se. But we'd definitely bonded like siblings when we met, and I always joked around with her like her brother when she was around. Terra and Ven were closer to her in a way, but Jo, Ara and I each had our own bonds with each of them. Ven was the little brother and always would be. Terra was like an older brother to everybody (except Aqua; those two...were starting on something different). But in Aqua I'd found a foster sister, hence the nickname 'Sis'.

She'd been there when I'd first found my best strength-the drive to protect what mattered-and had helped me create my own unique spell.

Wherever she was now, I didn't want to think about it.

Hearing that little remark from Ara had hurt a lot, because I literally missed Aqua with a deep, wrenching ache, like a brother misses his sister. I gritted my teeth. _My fault...all my fault... I should've been faster..._. I hung my head and finally murmured, "She'd tell me off for losing my temper again."

Ara smirked. "Y'know, Jo has her ways, but sometimes a slap on the head and a good old shouting-at aren't enough. Aqua knew that, right?"

I took a deep breath and slapped my hand onto my friend's shoulder with a heavy sigh. "Let's hope she does..."

Ara caught my hidden meaning and the glimmer in his eyes shifted a bit, getting a little concerned. "You okay?"

I paused. "Yeah, why?"

"You aren't still bla - ?"

I cut off the question with a quick grin and a wave-off. "Nahh, I'm fine." Reluctantly, Ara backed down. Good. I didn't need that old wound opened up again.

(End Destiny's Union)

Edging around him, I looked down at Yuffie and sighed. My ninja friend looked surprised but relieved at seeing my lack of a scowl. "Look..." I started. "I'll make a deal with you, Yuffie. You promise not to pull that prank on me again, and I'll try not to lose my cool when you nab my wallet next time or something. And - _and_, you have to let me have part of the profits of your next big find around here."

Yuffie mulled it over, but she was not a fool in any sense of the word. Just foolish when it came to annoying the wrong people. Finally, she beamed. "All right, Vann, you got yourself a deal!"

I grinned, and we shook on it.

"Glad to see diplomacy isn't dead for good around here," Leon spoke up. Sora was wiping his brow over-exaggeratedly behind his back and grinned when I zeroed in on him.

"At least I didn't go completely off the handle," I protested, rubbing my neck and feeling a blush flood my face. "That's not pretty, trust me."

"I don't think I want to see that side," Riku admitted carefully.

"Not me!" Sora butted in from behind him.

"You got some real good fire in ya, kiddo," Cid admitted. "See? I told'ja Yuffie'd bring out the worst in ya one day."

Ohhkay...I didn't quite remember it that way, but whatever.

Johanna met me over by the group. I swallowed hard when I saw her glare.

_Uh-oh._

"You...you..."

"...crum-bum?" I managed. WHAP! I winced and rubbed the top of my head where she'd slapped me. "Ow."

"Damn you, what in the HELL were you thinking, making a big scene like that!?" Jo shrieked. "I've never been so embarrassed in my life, you idiot!"

_Geez, you sound like my mother..._ THWOCK! Oops, I said that out loud, didn't I?

I waited for the storm to blow over while everybody else cringed and pretended not to be interested. Finally, Johanna calmed down and heaved a heavy sigh. "Guh, why do I put up with you, anyway?"

"Because of...all my awesome redeeming qualities?" I quipped.

That did it. She rolled her eyes and gave me a forgiving smile. _Phew_. "Oh, please."

"Well, _I_ think it's true."

"You're not getting off that easy, you goof. Put your gear on and get ready to get your butt kicked."

I grinned.

It was time for some training.

4 minutes went by and Jo and I were both ready to get down to business. Apparently, our business had a peanut gallery to go with it.

"Come on, Vann! You go get 'er, boy!" bellowed Cid in his typical southern twang.

Yuffie was jumping up and down, her earlier argument obviously already forgotten. "All right, Vann! Woohoo!"

Ara's voice interrupted Yuffie's screeching. "I bet twenty on Jo!"

Yuffie slugged his shoulder, which made my burly best friend stumble forward a step. "You're on!" she retorted, and they bumped fists.

Snorting, I ignored the others' cheers and strode to a point about twenty yards away from the group. The castle towered over us to the right, and to the left _Starseeker 1_ sat idle; its still-cooling engines ticked every so often. But that didn't bother me in the slightest; I was debating over Lightning's cold manner and how she hadn't been impressed by me wielding two Keyblades at all. Twirling _Archangel_ a few times by rotating my wrist just to loosen up, I forced my mind back on track—training. I drew my other Keyblade, having decided earlier on the basic _Star Seeker_ blade Yen Sid had given me waayyy back, and assumed a duel stance.

I crouched down a bit and planted my feet slightly, left slightly ahead of right, but stayed upright for the most part, not crouched down like Sora. My main Keyblade _Archangel _was held simply; behind my back a bit, but held close to horizontal just below my waist. I could easily strike or guard from there. The other one I held back hand in a similar position, also raised to just at the level of my waist, but this one turned so it was nearly parallel to the line of my hips. Good for uppercuts.

Of course, I could just as easily fight with one blade, but where's the fun in that?

Johanna, on the other hand, kept her blade low in front of her body; my memory can only describe it as a reverse on Aqua's stance; instead of behind her, she kept the blade in front of her. The tip pointed down at the ground, but the length of it was angled out away from her body. Her feet were close together, spaced evenly, her shoulders back, and her eyes focused on me.

_Wow, she's grown up._ I thought, taking in her appearance all of a sudden. Then I blinked it away._ Whoa! Focus. This is a sparring match. We can't get hurt. Still…why not show Lightning what to expect? There's no telling how she'll take it if we just wait for the Heartless to show up. _I caught Jo's gaze, communicating with eyes alone by glancing towards Lightning. Jo got the message, because a small smirk curled the left side of her lips, and her head tilted to one side in an amused way of understanding we'd developed between ourselves and Ara during our time as comrades.

_Let's see how she reacts to our skills, shall we? _I asked with an upwards tilt of one eyebrow.

_ You're on, _Jo's twinkling eyes said in reply.

(Working Together: KHII)

"Okay, fellas! Go!" Mickey called, and Jo and I charged. CLANG! _Seraphim_ clashed with _Archangel_ and _Star Seeker_, and I managed to throw her off balance just a bit by pushing to right.

"Give up yet?" I asked, landing several one-two alternating blows. I'd learned early on how to twirl either blade around my hand like a windmill, and used functional flourishes to my dual combos to keep enemies off balance and guessing. Some landed glancing blows; others she deflected with smooth expertise.

Johanna smiled sweetly as we locked blades for a second. "Nope!" She forced me back with a sudden push with her own Keyblade, and she moved like a whirlwind, swiftly dancing through some acrobatic moves I was able to dodge easily. A sudden upwards sweep was caught by my block, and sparks skittered off our blades as they grated together in passing. "You're still gonna get whipped at least once, Fyrwinde!"

"So're you!"

For a few minutes, we exchanged alternating series of blows, twisting and diving and deflecting with sharp exclamations of effort. Both of us managed to land some good hits. I ended up with a split lip, actually, when the left side of my face got acquainted with the flat side of Jo's Keyblade. Plus my, er...posterior regions. Yeah, ow. Jo had developed a hunched-over posture from some solid whacks from me, and she favored her left shoulder—her off shoulder.

We were both breathing hard by now, but I gathered a surge of strength and sprang; we met in the middle with a crash of metal on metal, and in the midst of this exchanged a tiny nod.

We both backflipped to a safe distance. "Okay, let's show the new folks what we've got for magic!" I called out. I banished _Star Seeker_ and readied _Archangel _again, but not before casting a quick, murmured "Cure," to heal our bruises. It was time to get serious with the other side of our skills.

I grinned, and my Keyblade erupted in the silver, crackling flames of my signature magic. Across from me, Johanna returned the grin, flicking her blade out and readying her own icy magic.

Then we _really_ hauled off at each other.

* * *

Sora watched with an almost childish expression of awe while his two older friends clashed with rapid-fire combos of silvery flame and ice. The concussive bursts of shock from the magic colliding ruffled his hair and made his jacket flutter. "I'll never get used to that..." he mumbled.

"Close that mouth of yours Sora, you're gathering flies." Sora looked over at Leon.

_Wait a minute..._ "Did...did you just crack a joke?!" Sora asked, hardly daring to believe it.

Leon's reply was done in the form of a deadpan stare. "No, that was a Leon compliment."

"Oh."

A beat.

"Oh!"

Riku facepalmed. "In other words, stop staring like an idiot," he snapped.

"Hey, you guys up for some practice?"

"Huh?" Sora and Riku both glanced over at Kairi, who held her arm up. Her Keyblade flashed into existence, and she grinned at the two boys and backed away to a reasonable distance away from the others. "Don't tell me you guys are scared to get beat by a girl!"

"Oh, it's on!" Riku sneered, summoning Way to the Dawn with a grin of his own.

Sora felt a wave of pride for his friends as he watched them spar for a second. He looked over and found Leon still standing there. "Wanna spar?"

Leon shook his head. "I'll pass on that. I've already got a sparring partner."

"Awwh..."

"Besides," Leon continued, reaching up behind his back to, where, Sora just realized to his embarrassment, the man had a new gunblade sheathed in a special harness. "I don't think you'd last long against the Lionheart."

Sora tilted his head. "Huh?"

Leon pulled his weapon out, and Sora felt his jaw drop when he saw the brilliant weapon his friend held.

"Holy..." The entire blade was a mass of eerie blue metal that glowed with its own inner radiance. The stock was much different from Leon's old revolver-styled gunblade, and the motif of a winged lion was visible near the base of the blade where the blue metal of the blade itself met the stock. "That thing's awesome! Where'd you get it?!"

"Rinoa."

Sora grinned. "Wow! You two are pretty tight." He stammered when the swordsman gave him a glare. "S-s-sorry! Th-That's n-not quite what I meant!"

"Whatever..." Leon flicked his new gunblade casually in the direction of Riku and Kairi's duel. "Go ahead and show your friends what the Chosen One's capable of."

"Right! Well, good luck with your training, too, Leon!" And with that, Sora summoned his Keyblade and dashed over to Riku and Kairi.

"What the heck was that all about?" Kairi asked as he ran up.

Sora grinned. "Oh, Leon was just showing off his new gunblade."He whirled and managed to block a hit from Riku. "Hey!"

"That big glowing thing he had just now?" Riku asked confidently. "That's his new weapon?"

"Yup!"

KABAMF! Both teens yelped when a fire spell exploded at their feet.

"COme on, you two, quit talking and come and practice!" Kairi yelled.

"You got it!"

* * *

With her arms tightly folded, Lightning Farron eyed the duelists with a blank expression that didn't betray any emotion other than indifference. Inside, however, she was thinking hard. When she had first arrived on Radiant Garden, Lightning hadn't expected to hear about other worlds so frequently, but it was a common subject, and she'd forced herself to pay attention. That was when she'd first heard about Sora. At first, the tales of this "Sora" kid and his two pals had made her scoff. _No way. There was no freaking way one kid and his friends defeated evil like that._

_Now, _she thought, _it's different. Seeing him in person is making me reconsider._ As she watched Sora square off with his best friend Riku, Lightning was again struck by how upbeat Sora was acting, despite his earlier stories at the meeting. His footwork was by no means perfect, but there was a grin on his face and a boundless energy inside of him that she could tell had helped the kid through plenty of tight spots.

Leon and Rinoa, now there was a basket case of teamwork to be proud of, she admitted, turning slightly and watching the couple spar together. Not once did they actually go overboard, and all of the hits they landed on each other were allowed. Neither Leonhart nor Heartilly ever left an opening by accident to each other. It was eerie, the connection they seemed to share, just like the faint glow Leon's gunblade gave off.

Then there were the others; the ones she'd be traveling with. She eyed Fyrwinde and Stellmaris' now-three-way duel with their friend Thorne and noted the skill with which Fyrwinde (_you'll end up calling him Vanner or Vann soon enough,_ she reminded herself) wielded his two Keyblades. His style was very smooth and not exactly acrobatic, but nevertheless flexible and he was never really…well, at rest. From what Johanna had told her, wielding two of those things was almost unheard of. As in nearly nonexistent. Her brow wrinkled when she saw him fire off a ball of that strange gray fire magic. _What sort of magic is that? _

"Need a practice session?" She turned her gaze away from the sparring going on and looked right. Cloud stood there looking slightly expectant.

(FFXIII: Eidolons)

For an answer, Lightning nodded, gripped her gunblade and whipped it out of its sheath as she crouched down. "Show me what you've got, then."

Cloud hauled his massive, bandaged sword over his shoulder as if it were just cardboard. "Likewise." It wasn't a challenge or a show of respect, it was just a statement.

They ran towards each other after a moment of tense silence, broken when both fighters' eyes narrowed. Cloud's bandaged blade, Lightning found out, was deadly fast, and could have easily broken past her guard had she not been a l'Cie. When she blocked one of his swings, she had to gather herself before flinging him off with a quick twist of her upper body and a whiplash-quick flick of her wrist. Lightning then backflipped, hurling herself backwards. She raised her weapon while she was still airborne, only now it was in gun form. Unfortunately when she fired, the shots pinged off the wide expanse of bandaged metal Cloud held. But he offered an acknowledging smirk in reply as Lightning landed. He'd already conjured a fireball and as she lit on her feet, he hurled it in her direction.

Lightning dove under the sizzling orb of heat and flame, already reconverting her weapon to its bladed form as she skidded under it on her side. With a sharp cry of effort she leapt up and hurled herself at the darkly-dressed blond. Her Blazefire Saber collided with Cloud's sword with a crash, and the dance of death began again.

Panting with exertion, Lightning grinned lightly as she flung her whole body into this. This, _this _was what she was good at. She was fully devoted to the fight, and she and Cloud dueled back and forth, back and forth. "Thunder!" she cried, thrusting her free hand at the sky mid-combo.

A flurry of lightning bolts began striking at Cloud, but the blond sidestepped most of them until one hit him square in the chest. "Guh!" He staggered, his hair frizzing more than usual. Lightning took the opening and dealt him several hard blows, but when Lightning went in for the final blow, there was no opening. Cloud sidestepped her incoming stab and smacked her backwards with the flat side of his sword.

His strikes were slower but more powerful, she noted under the litany of _strike, parry, counter, defend, evade, incoming, action, reaction_. Cloud's style left openings, but he was so fast he was easily adaptable. He'd probably honed it that way because of the sheer size of the blade, and looks were deceiving. She was about to counter Cloud's strike to her torso when the blond suddenly halted and jumped back at least ten feet, whirling his gigantic sword overhead as he landed. Then he crouched before rocketing high into the air with near-superhuman speed, far higher than anybody normal could ever leap. With a roar, he plunged, blade coming up and over from behind him in a mighty stab. Lightning dove aside as his sword—glowing strangely with faint blue light—buried itself in stone with a concussive SHUNK that triggered a shockwave. She was bowled over by the burst of energy, but if there was anyone in the old Guardian Corps who prided themselves with a quick recovery, it was Lightning Farron. Her instincts - trained for years not to release her weapon, but instead to hold on to it - made her grip tighten, her arm readjust and her whole body move with the wave to use it to her own advantage. She felt a smirk spread across her face as she turned in midair. "Hmph..."

She twisted expertly, acrobatically, and landed with feet widespread, down on one knee, one arm thrust down to support her torso as she folded to absorb the shock.

Her head came up, and light blue eyes beheld the blond SOLDIER charging full tilt. She flicked her arm out and sprang with her gunblade already crackling with magical current.

KA-BAM!

They collided as equal forces. Muted thunder crashed when their blades collided and there was a deep boom. The two of them were flung away from each other when the magic in their weapons rebounded, sending them both sprawling on their backs in a heap.

(End Eidolons)

They got back up, but Lightning could tell that Cloud was satisfied. "Not bad," he remarked as he approached.

"You too."

They were about to shake hands when Cloud's blue eyes flickered to look at something over her shoulder, and he froze, looking alarmed. Lightning whirled around and caught sight of an unmistakable shape scuttling around behind the Keyblade Masters' ship.

A Heartless.

She needn't have bothered, though; Cid spotted it already and with a yell like a choco-bronco rider he sprang over and dealt a quick stab to the monster the instant it wriggled up from the ground to face him.

"Heads up folks, we got company!" he bellowed.

Leon stopped sparring with Rinoa, and the two of them glanced over, their eyes narrowing in alarm.

Sora stumbled; Riku halted midway through a quick stab. Kairi stopped in a bid to sweep Yuffie off her feet and the other staggered ridiculously.

And everybody heard, loud and clear, the sound of screams beginning to rise from the town below.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

And that is PART ONE of the end of Radiant Garden, folks! Stay tuned for PART 2!


	6. Chapter 6: Fury, Fights and Farewells P2

I am SO sorry for not updating quicker. This chapter has been a pain to write. I've skimmed over part of the battle, but not all of it, and there will still be PLENTY of action to slake your thirst for Kingdom Hearts awesomeness. So, without further ado, the disclaimer:

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy franchises or their characters. This is a fan work dedicated in honor of the brilliant staff of Square Enix and Disney Interactive Studios, who are the legal owners of these works. The only thing I own are the original characters.**

* * *

Fury, Fights and Farewells (PART 2)

_(KHII: Scherzo di Notte)_

The plaza was in chaos as the Committee raced down from the castle. Leon had barely paused two seconds before he started bellowing for civilians to take cover anywhere they could. "Clear out!" he yelled. "Clear out! Take cover!" As the townsfolk ran for it, he rounded on everybody, lowering Lionheart from its perch on his shoulder. Sora caught himself flinching despite himself; the look in Leon's eyes was harsh, calculating and downright dangerous. The chaos around them didn't even faze his older friend, and after a sec Sora grinned. The idea was...totally awesome.

"Cloud, Tifa, head for the reactor; keep these things from killing the power," Leon ordered. "Aerith, Your Majesty?" He looked at the King. "Can you defend the boroughs?"

Mickey nodded. "We'll help ya. C'mon, fellas!" Donald and Goofy took off with the King, Aerith right behind them.

"Good luck you guys!" Sora called out.

"Rin, you stay with me," Leon went on tersely, his girlfriend nodding, "we need to keep the ones here contained. Cid, Laguna," he said, "go and help out in the marketplace; there's probably a lot of people trapped up there." Cid ran off with a nasty grin on his face, slicing any monster that got in his way with his spear. "C'mon, Prez, let's go!" Laguna was right behind him, for some reason sporting a rather battered looking sub-machine gun.

"Sora...you and your friends just...do your thing here," Leon added.

Sora gaped. _What the...seriously?_ "'Do our thing?' Is that the best you could come up with?" he retorted with a wide grin.

"Whatever." Leon glanced at Lightning. "Farron, keep an eye on the situation at the castle. If things get bad head up there. Until then stay here." Lightning grunted in reply; all she needed to say.

"HE-EY!" Everybody turned and watched as Aradorn came running down the steps, leaping the last three and landing in a slight crouch. His Keyblade, Dark Enigma, was already in his hand. Sora had to admit, every time he saw that Keyblade it looked even more awesome. The towering man grinned at them. "You guys save some for me?" he asked.

"Of course." Leon turned and glanced at Rinoa. "You ready?"

She offered him a radiant smile with a bit of an edge to it. "You know I am." Unnoticed by Sora, her eyes began to glow faintly with a golden sheen of pure magic.

_What're they talking about?_ Sora wondered staring from one to the other. Leon noticed. The taller man looked back at Sora and a slight smirk came across his face. "Got your Keyblade ready?"

Sora grinned and traded looks with Riku and Kairi. "Anytime!" He opened his hand and let the familiar weight of the Kingdom Key settle in his grasp; Riku drew Way To Dawn and Kairi had Destiny's Embrace ready. "Let's go!"

Leon scoffed halfheartedly and followed them in, and Lightning and Rinoa followed. Sora glanced back for a second, though. He was astounded when Rinoa suddenly sprouted a pair of iridescent golden-white wings and took flight. Then they were in the thick of it.

It was utter pandemonium, and boy, was it FUN! Heartless that had been targeting the townsfolk immediately gravitated to their greatest fear: the Keyblades held by Sora and his friends. It became one big romp for Sora. He found himself in the midst of a swarm of incoming monsters that were all headed straight for him. This was his element, and he wasn't about to back down just because of a few measly Heartless. _Piece of cake! _Skidding backwards to keep a group of Soldiers from getting him with their claws, Sora struck; with a yell he brought the Kingdom Key around and flung them pell-mell like so many coconuts. Then he dashed after them and took them all down one by one. "This is it!" He cut the last of his opponents in two with a whirlwind blow. "How's that?!"

"Get serious!" Riku shouted as he duked it out with a few Heartless nearby.

"Aw come on, Riku! I'm always serious!"

"Right."

Suddenly pain blossomed as something crashed headlong into him from behind, clawing at his back; Sora stumbled and spun around, reflexively striking at the Heartless that had managed to get the drop on him. "HA!" The Heartless disappeared. "See?"

Riku snorted in reply and stabbed a Shadow.

"Sora!" He heard Kairi call out. "A little help?!" She was being accosted by three Sergeants; bigger, meaner versions of the smaller Soldier Heartless running all over the place.

Not wasting a second, Sora rushed in to help, but before he got close he noticed some of the shadows behind Kairi start to darken. Then a familiar dark-clad figure burst out of them with a deep WHOOSH, and Dark Enigma flashed, cutting down several of the Heartless in one mighty sweep.

Ara glanced up and flashed a grin. "Call for a rescue, princess?"

"Hey!" Sora whined. _Why'd he have to do that?_ He wondered.

"I keep score." Ara had seemingly read his mind.

"Yeah?"

"Currently it's Heartless: zero; Awesome Keybladers..." he paused, "about twenty." A distant Watcher Drone took a potshot at the guy. Before Sora could even warn him Ara turned, lifted his Keyblade and slammed the blast right back. The Heartless exploded. "Eh, make that twenty-one," he added. Then he turned somewhat serious as he looked at Kairi. "You okay, Kairi?" he asked her. Kairi was panting a bit but seemed okay.

"I'm okay." Sora heaved a sigh of relief.

There was a chitter and Aradorn looked up, his face turning serious. "Right." He took up a solid stance as the Heartless attacked, Keyblade held out in both hands much like Cloud held his Fusion Swords.

"Can you keep these guys off us?" Sora asked as he dodged several more Heartless.

Aradorn did a double-take. "A distraction? Kid, you came to the right man!" he grinned. He dropped out of sight in a swirl of shadows. Seconds later he popped up a good distance away.

What he did next made Sora's jaw drop.

He whistled. That's right, he put his fingers into his mouth and whistled, loud and high as if calling a dog. "Oh, Heartless!" he called.

Surprisingly, many of the Heartless actually reacted and stopped, turning their glowing yellow eyes toward the tall, burly man with the Keyblade.

"You guys wanna play ball, huh? Do ya? Huh?" Aradorn bent down slightly and patted his thighs to call them in. "Come on, you little sneaks! Bet you can't fetch worth a damn!"

The Heartless (as well as Sora and Riku and Kairi) all traded looks as if to wonder _"who _is_ this kook?"_ The Heartless, however, weren't about to pass up an easy target. Several Soldiers went scrambling in before they leapt as one, red claws outstretched, not even caring that Aradorn had his Keyblade up and poised like a giant...

**THWOCK!**

...baseball bat.

Yeah, ouchie.

"Ooh...!" Riku winced, catching a glimpse of the result and obviously trying not to grin.

Aradorn lowered his Keyblade. After peering upwards with shaded eyes he waved mockingly at the rapidly shrinking monsters sailing out into the great big blue. "Adios, birdbrains!" he jeered. He turned back and flashed a winsome grin. "You see that?! OH yeah!" He pumped one fist.

Sora grinned. "That's it!"

Aradorn turned back to the Heartless and continued his blatant mockery of the creatures. "Come on, give me a real fight, why don't ya?!" He staggered when a Shadow tried to tackle him and just speared it with a poke from Dark Enigma, letting out a disdainful scoff. "Not even close."

"Oh, you think that's scary, do ya?" he sneered when some of them chittered or growled at him angrily. He made an unimpressed face. "Roar, roar, snarl, snarl. Bah! My own grandma would break out the old twelve gauge, not run out of the house screaming." More screeching and growling, and this time Ara had to go on the defensive as the Heartless attacked from different angles. Then he broke into a short run, jumped, and brought his Keyblade down in a hammer strike, making a shockwave explode, destroying more of them.

"Oh, yeah, it's ON, baby!" he whooped. He rose to his feet and flung several homing fireballs next, followed by a series of Thunder spells that hit more Heartless, immobilizing them. "Bind!" The spell immobilized the still-twitching creatures. Then Riku teamed up with him for a moment; they charged up a Dark Firaga together and whacked it off into the midst of the trapped Heartless as if teeing off with their Keyblades, sending more Heartless scattering with the resulting explosion.

"All right!" Riku traded a high five with the older man before running back to help, but Sora could tell the guy had a few jabs left.

"Yo, small fry, give up yet?" he yelled, waiting for the Heartless to gang up. "Cos the other side's got **ME**!" Then he struck a pose and pulled a stunt that made Kairi laugh outright.

"**_Boom!_**" Flex.

"**_Bang!_**" Other arm.

"**_Fiyahpowah!_**" He struck a bodybuilder's pose with his Keyblade held in his outstretched hand...and also managed to let off a blast of "sparkly" magic that bowled the Heartless over backwards. Once they regained their footing the Heartless charged at him only to get squashed as Aradorn scattered them with his powerful reach.

Trying his hardest not to laugh at the spectacle, Sora took the opening and ran on in. _Apparently making fun of these monsters works just as well as it did with Cerberus. I'll remember that._

While he, Riku and Kairi dealt with the various distracted monsters Aradorn took care of himself as best he could. "HYA! HN! **Booya!** How's this?!" Another slam of Dark Enigma set off a shockwave of shadow that launched several Heartless head over heels. "I got more where _that_ came from!" he crowed, having cleared a good opening in the swarm.

Suddenly a new, stronger wave of Heartless appeared to give the Shadows, Soldiers and Neoshadows backup-at least six Defender Heartless, plus Wyverns and several Wizards. All Heartless Sora remembered vividly as he finished off a trio of Neoshadows with a Fire spell. "Uh oh." he murmured.

Aradorn just smirked as he was surrounded by three of the Defenders. "Hey, just what I needed!" Without further ado he reached out and bodily _yanked _one of the monsters' evil-faced shields from its owner's grip and then SMACKED the defenseless Heartless across the face with the shield so hard it spun clear around in a circle before it collapsed. "Thank you!" he told it, then squashed the monster with its own shield.

Surprisingly the disc didn't disappear with its owner. "He-hey, nice!" Aradorn commented, hefting the shield up. He gripped it in his left hand. Sora recognized the sloppy grin on Aradorn's face and grinned - it was the same look Riku got when he was winning. The burly Master suddenly dropped into his own shadow, then popped back up right behind one of the Defenders stupidly looking at the spot he'd occupied.

Tap, tap. He tapped the creature's shoulder. "Guess who?"

CLANG! The Defender toppled over from a shield across the face, and died from a dark fireball to the chest...area. Then he did it again.

Drop.

Tap, tap.

"Guess who?"

CLANG!

Repeat process.

In fact, Ara managed to take down all three Defenders with the same tactic, which had Sora wondering just how smart these things ACTUALLY were.

But as the Heartless swelled in number _again,_ Sora had to wonder something.

Just how long is this going to last?

* * *

_The Front Doors..._

WHAM!

"Agh!"

Johanna slammed to earth with a cry, having been launched through the air by a clawed limb to her midriff. "Ugh..." Winded, she struggled to her feet. As she did she heard a screech, and managed to raise her Keyblade just in time to have the Wyvern that'd been attacking her impale itself on the blade. The Heartless died with a screech, but Jo had more problems; the horde of monsters surrounding _Starseeker 1_, Vanner, and herself.

_Things have really taken a nosedive,_ she reflected. It had been at least five minutes since the fight had started, with no signs of letting up anytime soon. Heartless had swarmed their position barely two minutes in; loads of Shadows and Soldiers for the most part, but the sheer numbers were becoming a problem. Shadows may be dumb, but they, like all Heartless, are persistent and dangerous creatures, reliant on numbers to bring down their prey...and there were a LOT of Shadows running around right now. Backing the little guys up were a few Wyverns and Neoshadows.

Through the dull throb of her injuries Johanna managed to egg her body into getting off the ground. She lashed out with her Keyblade, holding it out as she pivoted in a low crouch. The blade sliced through the monsters around her like they were little more than butter. But before she could move back to safety some of the surviving Heartless piled on. "Gah...!" she grunted. Their weight dragged at her and made her stagger, and black claws dug at her, eager to rip her heart from her.

"No!" Vanner's shout of anger came clear as a beam of sunlight. Two Keyblades flashed and he hauled Johanna to her feet. Her heart swelled with gratitude at the gesture. "You okay?" he asked.

"Fine, never better." Jo replied. She tried not to let her fatigue show.

"Right. Let's get back to business, then."

And here came the Heartless. All. At. Once.

Suddenly several of them fell to the sound of a series of gunshots.

Their source was easy to spot: Lightning stood near the steps down to the town plaza, just letting down her gunblade, which was in firing form. "Thought you might need some backup!" the soldier shouted as she leapt into the fray, slicing two Neoshadows in half and following up by flipping her gunblade back into gun mode and firing off a volley that staggered a few other Heartless trying to close in.

"Thanks!" Vanner returned with a nod as he crouched back into his ready stance, barely glancing over when a couple low-level Heartless started coming up on his right. He raised one arm and launched a series of fireballs with a quick shout of "Fire!" The spells easily dispatched the monsters, leaving nothing but a few departing hearts floating away.

Johanna whirled just as some Soldiers were about to strike, stabbing one in the emblem with Cometstorm_._ Before the other ones could react, Johanna spun round with a yell, launching the other two into the air with a graceful whirling leap. Lightning took the opportunity to help take care of the helpless monsters; she leapt up, tearing the Heartless to shreds with her gunblade alongside Johanna. When Jo landed she shot Lightning a quick smile.

"Nice one."

Lightning smirked back. "Comes with the job."

The trio quickly got to work on the Heartless, developing a basic system of attack and defense. Johanna raced towards a group of Heartless that was heading in her direction; halfway there she dove into a gymnastic flip routine, weaving her Keyblade expertly into the maneuvers. A twisting front flip, then an expertly-executed somersault finished with a low 360 sweep that knocked the monsters off their feet; then with a sharp cry she rose to her feet, bringing her Keyblade from its outstretched position, around and up, the move leaving a trail of residual light.

Almost immediately more came to join in, but Johanna sensed it coming.

Time for more.

The wave of basic Heartless ended and a new wave popped up. These ones were more magic-based and more powerful.

"Whoa!" Jo yelped as a Defender appeared right in front of her, cutting her and Lightning off. She barely dodged the Defender's shield as the monster thrust it forward, but she focused; flipping over the monster, she landed in a crouch right behind it and knocked the beast off balance from behind with a horizontal strike. The armored creature retaliated in kind; Johanna yelped when it suddenly swung its shield round and the bear-like face on the monster's shield smashed into her left side, knocking her feet out from under her.

That one hurt. "Nn…" With a groan Johanna rolled and got up. The eyes on the shield flashed red and Johanna tensed; a second later the monstrous face belched a fireball the size of a basketball right at her.

She braced and flung both arms out. "Hup!" The spherical barrier appeared just in time. The fireball collided with the transparent shell and exploded, and Jo thrust Cometstorm at the monster, noting that several other Heartless were nearby. "Take that!"

_Ka-shink! _The sphere of magic exploded outwards. Panels from the spell collided with Heartless that had gotten too close, driving them back and in most cases destroying them.

But then another Defender came in, and this one was more persistent than its fellow. Johanna brought her Keyblade down as the shield snapped at her with a toothy maw, but it rebounded off the shield's rim. In that moment when her guard was down the Heartless thrust its shield out, sending her stumbling backwards several paces. "Ow! "

_Dang it,_ Johanna realized, cursing herself. It had just separated her from Vanner and Lightning with one feint. The instant the Heartless had her cut off, a horde of those _damned annoying_ Crimson Jazz popped up around her. She groaned under her breath, tempted to kick herself for her bad luck: she'd been on the receiving end of a Jazz's flame attack too many times. _Crap. These suckers hurt._ She crouched down in preparation a split second before the flames reared up—literally. Three of the creatures suddenly bulged and moved in. They were preparing to unleash one big explosive heat wave, but Johanna saw their stupidity at being so obvious. "I don't think so!" She gestured and summoned up a Reflect spell right on time; fiery blast waves exploded outwards from the Heartless but rebounded back on their sources as the Reflect spell registered the hits.

She dispelled the barrier and charged at the staggering monsters, already readying her magic. As she finished one of them off by slicing it in half, she chanced a look around. Vanner and Lightning were handling things all right so far.

Vanner suddenly paused just long enough for his upper body and Keyblades to break out in a bright silver aura that roiled and flickered like fire. A Power Shift—he'd just gone into Lightblaze. He burst into motion. Jo had just enough time to see him rip a Neoshadow to shreds with a whirling series of strikes.

That glance cost Johanna the advantage. Another Jazz swung its bell-shaped body smack into her spine, and she was knocked over. "Gah!" She caught herself before she smashed her face on the ground and rolled away from another fire blast. Unfortunately, Johanna didn't see the floating mine in her way.

"AIGH!" Something exploded with a loud _whumpf! _White-hot, sizzling pain tore into her side. Gathering herself up, Johanna hurled her Keyblade at the Heartless; her other hand instinctively went to her side. "Nngh…!" Pain lanced from where her hand made contact—the red hot kind of pain she associated with a burn, among her other injuries. She screamed when another mine hit her straight in the chest, but this time she managed a recovery flip, letting loose a flash of blue-white light that sent the Heartless reeling.

_Perfect._ Panting, Johanna reached out for her Keyblade on its return journey and snatched it out of the air; in the same motion Johanna thrust it overhead and cried "Heal!" The healing wave of the Curaga spell washed over not just her, but also expanded out far enough to catch Lightning and Vanner. Lightning glanced over briefly from taking the fight to a Defender and nodded her thanks. Vanner was a little preoccupied with hammering a Defender into the ground, but the spell obviously healed more than a few bruises because he picked up speed.

Johanna turned back to face the flock of Jazz. _Time to put the fire out._ She spun round quickly in a preparatory sweep, gathering up all the ice magic she had as she came back around, lifting her Keyblade so that it was angled up and across her chest before swiping it back down into her opening stance. "Come on, you little freaks!" she challenged, feeling her powers swell up around her. The air around her body turned cold and icy, but Johanna didn't feel a thing as frost and ice crystals crackled down the length of her weapon. Soon her whole body was glowing with a blue crystalline aura—Diamond Dust.

The Jazz, of course, being stupid Heartless with no brains at all, complied and charged at Johanna en masse. But she had some chilling news for 'em. "Time to cool off!" With that she began hurling Blizzaga after Blizzaga left and right. One Jazz got ambitious and came in swinging but was cut short. Actually, more like in half; Jo leapt into a midair somersault the instant she saw it move, using the 1080 flip to execute a graceful wheel slash that was infused with supernatural ice. "You like this?" she teased harshly as the Heartless's remains disintegrated, throwing out a wave of blue frost with a flick of her left hand at the others. When they reeled back she launched into a new combo. "Hai! Ha! Hup! So long!" She spun round, drawing three of them in; then with an upwards swing left a hunk of crystalline ice that smashed one of the fire-element Heartless into the air. She jumped after it, sweeping the other two up with her. "Have some more!" One of the more distant Heartless launched a Thunder spell. It hit Johanna in the small of her back, knocking her out of the air.

Jo gathered what power she had left in this power shift and let it go. "FAREWELL!" Glowing with a bright, icy sheen of Blizzard magic, Jo leapt up again, taking the Heartless near her with her as she twirled in midair, her Keyblade spinning around her like an icy pinwheel before she paused and made one last swing of her arm. Cometstorm flashed, flinging the various Heartless to the ground frozen in blocks of ice the instant the Keyblade touched them.

KRASH! The monsters shattered on contact with the earth. As their remains were still dissipating, Johanna touched down like a graceful bird of prey, the aura fading.

But it wasn't over yet.

Across the courtyard, Vanner chanced a glance down at Starseeker 1's damage meter in his watch and blanched. He spun round and saw several Wyverns taking their claws to their ship's hull. HIS ship; the one he'd gotten so damned good at piloting and half the time was upgrading in some way.

"HEY!" Furious, Vanner went racing in like a streak of hellfire, weapons flashing as he leapt at the nearest monster.

Upon seeing this, Johanna swore under her breath and broke off her fight, running in to help. Lightning switched her gunblade and fired off a few potshots at the flying Heartless, managing to hit three of them.

Vanner snarled as he tore through his first monster like a force of nature; a tornado of two weapons and deadly intent. Wyvern Heartless fell left and right, their dying screeches fading as their dark essence splattered into oblivion. "RAH!" Vanner spun in midair at a steep angle, almost vertical, smashing one Heartless to the ground, but Jo blanched as two more suddenly appeared behind him.

_He hasn't noticed them! _"Look out!" she cried. Too late. The Heartless attacked and Vanner went flying.

Lightning struck like her namesake before the Heartless could even come close to following up on their attack. "You're _mine_!" she yelled. The flurry of blows she landed were classic hit and run, done with a style even Jo was impressed by as she fought off another Defender. Half the time Lightning wasn't even on the ground. "Thundara!" cried her comrade. Thunderbolts flew down and struck at random intervals at the monster as it charged after her. Lightning was already waiting for the creature with the barrel of her gunblade leveled at its face. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Bullets of light sparked out of the gunblade and struck the charging monster, making it reel. By the time it recovered Lightning had already buried her weapon's blade in its empty chest, slaying it for good.

But then a deep, thrumming roar that was in no way natural shook the air, and a huge draconian Heartless shot up from the depths of the crater the castle was built in; a Phantomtail Heartless-big and hard to kill since it liked to teleport.

Seeing the dragon, Jo felt the ugly churn in her gut kick up a notch. "Uh-oh..." she murmured.

The Heartless roared a challenge and the battle geared up for a new round.

* * *

Sora groaned. "Come on, enough already!" he complained. He, Riku and Kairi were all breathing hard as they fought against the swarm of Heartless still running in from every direction. They were getting to be a problem. Sora hated to admit it to himself, but he was rustier than he liked. Kairi didn't have much experience, though she was going all out, and Riku was fighting off the effects of a Poison from one of these guys; he couldn't tell. Aradorn was trying to bully his way through to help, but was kind of occupied by the Wyverns divebombing him from all directions; he had to swing his "borrowed" shield around to keep them off. Finally Sora heard him snarl in frustration and smash one of the creatures in the head with the object, then drop it.

He heard Kairi cry out and whirled around. She was being cornered by several Soldiers and had just fallen to one knee in exhaustion. "Kairi!" Desperate, he sprinted to her, literally vaulting over some of the Heartless to get to her in time.

The Heartless never saw him coming. "GET OFF HER!" Sora roared, tearing the gathering apart just in time. Gasping with exertion he reached down and helped his friend to her feet. He gave Kairi a careful once-over. "You okay?"

Kairi swayed for a moment but nodded. "Thanks. Do you have a potion on you?"

"Here." Nothing. "Oh, no..." He did find an ether, though. "Here, use this to get some magic back."

"Sora, stay back!" Leon suddenly yelled at the top of his voice. "Rin, now!"

(Saber's Edge -arrange-)

Astounded, Sora and Kairi turned and watched as the two adults stood together facing each other. A shining golden glow surrounded Rinoa and her iridescent wings, while a similar silver glow started emitting from Leon. A deep, vibrating hum was heard that thrummed throughout the entire town; a throb of unspeakable power. Sora's eyes went wide as he felt the Keyblade actually quiver in his grasp.

Something BIG was about to happen.

Then Leon and Rinoa raised their weapon arms together and shouted a single word so forcefully that it shook their surroundings and made every Heartless in the square stop in its tracks.

**"GRIEVER!"**

Immediately a huge crash of thunder rang out as bright white light shone from a seal that appeared directly beneath the two warriors. Then an orb of blue-black energy ascended from the seal and burst open above all their heads, torn asunder by an immense winged black lion with a bipedal build. When Leon and Rinoa lowered their weapons and looked over, Sora saw that both their eyes were glowing. Literally. Leon's were silver and Rinoa's were bright, blinding gold.

"Holy..." he breathed. _Leon is seriously this powerful?!_

Then Rinoa spoke again. Sora could feel the force behind the young woman's words in his gut._ Whoa..._ **"Griever..."** she began, her voice reverberating with power. Then Leon finished the sentence with her.

**"Make the Heartless...****_bleed."_**

Griever growled once and struck with his masters. Like a bolt of black lightning the summoned lion (Sora couldn't quite tell) dove into the battle with Leon and Rinoa. Right in the thick of things, the great creature tore a swath of utter decimation, towering over the Heartless with its height of at LEAST fifteen feet. Great sweeps of his clawed forepaws smacked scores of the monsters halfway across the plaza. When the remaining Wyverns screeched and went to attack the towering lion, he snarled and crushed two in his clawed grip. Then Griever suddenly reared back and let out another proud roar. A pillar of crackling energy flared up around the winged lion, destroying more Heartless.

Sora and company could only watch in amazement. Leon and Rinoa had become a force all their own; Rinoa hovered overhead, hurling spells Sora had never seen and firing her pinwheel in between castings, sometimes imbuing the bladed disc with a fire spell or some other basic magic that turned it into a wheel of flame, ice or electricity. On the ground was Leon, and he was a whirlwind of ordered chaos. Lionheart blazed bright, bright blue, crackling with energy bolts all along its blade as the wielder swung it straight through a Wyvern in a poised, deadly arc. There was no resitance, but Leon was so experienced with the gunblade that he simply used the momentum to turn in a circle, setting off a series of hovering red orbs that blew when he pulled the trigger. Lionheart was much more than it appeared to be, that's for sure.

Aradorn was fighting off to one side as only he could, but he managed to stay out of the way of Sorceress, Knight and Guardian Force relatively easily.

On the outskirts of the plaza, Sora glanced over at Riku and reached over to wave in Riku's face. "You okay?"

Riku nodded slowly. "Um...yeah, I'm good."

They both looked at Kairi, who smiled at them once she'd gotten over her own shock. "Amazing, isn't it?"

"Yeah!"

"What're you guys waiting for?!" Aradorn's voice yelled from across the plaza. "Come on!"

Sora grinned and they jumped back in.

As the battle wore on Sora was feeling a little worn out, but not quite to the point of exhaustion. "You getting tired, Riku?"

"A little. Kairi?"

"Kind of," Kairi remarked, blocking a Soldier's claws with her Keyblade.

"Well, I've been sitting on this one all day, guys. You ready for this?"

Kairi smiled. "Then let's try it!"

Sora grinned and gestured for them to face him in a three way circle. He bowed his head and closed a hand over his heart, Riku and Kairi doing the same. A great seal of holy light suddenly erupted beneath them, rendering the trio invulnerable with its light. A long moment passed as a great orb of shining white light ascended from the very center, shining and shimmering with the light pouring into it from the three teenagers' hearts.

Then Sora looked up and lifted the Kingdom Key. Kairi raised Destiny's Embrace. Riku lifted Way to Dawn. Another pause as they traded glances.

Then together they crossed their blades right in the middle of the hovering ball of light.

"LIGHT!"

The orb cracked open like a shining sun, unleashing torrents of light in a great wave of pure energy from the three Keyblade Wielders. It was so strong even Griever, a summon, paused and turned away to avoid being blinded by the light.

Then it was subsided. Many of the smaller heartless were gone altogether, washed away by the outpouring of light from the Trinity Sora, Riku and Kairi had set off. Most of the small Heartless were gone for good. But there were still a lot of stronger monsters to deal with.

* * *

_Up at the Castle Entrance..._

"Vann?!" Jo cried as she backflipped away from the Phantomtail. The Heartless was getting a bigger piece out of them and their ship than she was comfy with. Lightning had managed to sear a good chunk of its left wing away with a Thundara spell, and Vanner had severed most of its tail and had already given it a good beating. Jo had frozen half its other wing solid and was nailing it with Poison and Fire whenever she could, but Phantomtails had a nasty reputation of getting more and more ferocious the more damage you did. This one was living up to the reputation wholeheartedly. _If we don't take down this thing now,_ she thought as she leveled her Keyblade at the Heartless and fired a Blizzara spell (it missed), _it's going to destroy the ship!_ "Vann, now might be a good time for you to try the panic button!"

Beside her, a dark grin spread across Vanner's face. "I was just thinking the same thing!" he replied. He lashed out, spinning around in a 1080 swath and flinging any nearby Heartless away from him to clear some space. Then he rose, reached up overhead with Starseeker 1's fob and hit a flashing red button. An alarm blared from the ship; immediately the whole spacecraft powered up and the ship's guns all swiveled to face forwards. As the trio watched, a low hum began to emit from the bowels of the Gummi ship, quickly rising in pitch and volume.

"Panic button?" Lightning wondered as they all backed away from the gummi ship.

"Watch and learn, Lightning." Vanner remarked offhandedly, just as the rising whine from the ship reached its peak. "Hit the deck!" he yelled, and they all dove to the ground.

_BDDABDDABDDABDDABDDA-!_

The guns on the ship's underbelly roared to life with a vengeance, spewing a hail of destructive energy from their barrels in a great thundering blast. While Jo kept her head down beside Vanner and Lightning, Starseeker 1 wreaked havoc on the Heartless that was stalking towards it intent on destroying it. A blistering barrage of cannon fire carved a smoking hole in the Phantomtail's torso; the swarm of Heartless crowded around at the front of the ship didn't fare any better. Then the lasers and the Graviga-type guns warmed up, and two smaller missiles popped out from bays in the ship's underbelly, held by their Before the Phantomtail Heartless could so much as screech it was utterly obliterated by the last barrage from Starseeker 1.

_**shf-! shf-!**_

**_...FWABLAM!_**

The energy blast was big enough that it blinded the three warriors for a moment and completely engulfed the Phantomtail.

Blinking from the residual glare, Lightning got to her feet first and stared at the smoking scorch mark a few yards away. It was all that remained of the Phantomtail and a good deal of the smaller Heartless. The area was empty except for a couple Armored Soldiers that vanished when Lightning trained her glare on them. "Well, that's one way to get rid of a bug problem," she remarked blithely.

Jo couldn't keep back a laugh at that remark as she got to her feet.

_Fwumph! Fwumph!_

The blossoming of not one but TWO more 'Tail-types and another company of various smaller Heartless wiped the smile off her face.

"Oh, come _on_!" Vanner snarled, a scowl crossing his face as he jerked in frustration. "We don't have time for this!" Then he glanced at Lightning. They both nodded at each other; something _clicked _between the two comrades-of-circumstance and Jo made her way backwards to a safer distance. She could tell what was coming.

**Limit Break.**

"Lightning!"

"Watch my back!"

The two of them sprang up, dropping into the mess of monsters with a whirl of their weapons that left a swirling circle of rose petals in its wake. Both warriors were practically sizzling with energy.

Then Lightning was on the move. She ran at the reeling horde and struck like her namesake, glowing with faint rose-colored light, sending several of the dragons' backup into the darkness with the bite of the Blazefire Saber, which spat and sizzled with lightning bolts along its blade. Suddenly, one of the small Heartless got its jaws into Lightning's red cape. Snarling, Lightning spun round and the momentum made the smooth fabric lash out like a whip, hurling the Heartless straight for Vanner, who had already seen the predicament she was in. Glowing goldenrod-yellow, he lifted his right hand Keyblade as he turned and hacked down, splitting the Heartless in two. "HRA!"

"You ready?" Lightning demanded as the two of them leapt back so they were side by side. Vanner grinned and they both sprang at the Phantomtail Heartless again, still glowing. Lightning launched the two giants into the air with quick, mighty upwards sweeps of her gunblade, and Vanner leapt up like a rocket. He wound up like a coiled spring, torso twisted to one side; then he spun just as the Heartless reached his level, lashing out with both Keyblades with such force the very air seemed to shatter. "Want some more?!" he roared. The last swing slammed the two Heartless into the ground with almost enough force to crack the pavement. Key word being almost. Lightning caught Vanner as he landed, grabbing onto his hand. They pivoted with their joined hands as the focal point, letting loose another swath of gold and rose light and wind, dealing still more injuries to the two Heartless.

Finally the Limit reached its peak.

Lightning and Vanner straightened up, back to back. After dismissing his secondary blade Vanner raised Archangel before him horizontally, while behind him Lightning did the same. As they ran their free hands along the length of their respective swords the metal began to glow a sizzling, sparking white with an almost violet undertone; the color of a lightning bolt in a thunderstorm. They held their weapons at their sides, eyeing the Phantomtails as the monsters struggled to get up.

Once the monsters were up Lightning and Vanner swung their sword arms up as one and hurled all the energy from their Limit Break into the sky on a bolt of electricity.

"_Let's finish this!_"

**_KRAKKOOOOM!_**

The result of that energy when it came back was not just a simple Thundaga spell. It wasn't even worthy of being called a Thunder spell. No, this was a bolt of lightning so powerful it blew the Heartless out of existence. Vaporized. Utterly destroyed. A Bolt of Wrath worthy of Hercules's father.

The thunder from the lightning strike rolled like a drum and waned after a few moments, letting the trio see what had become of the monsters.

All that was left of the last Heartless was a small pile of fine gray ash.

"Woohoo! All right!" Johanna cheered as Lightning and Vanner traded a smug smirk at their victory.

Lightning sheathed her gunblade smartly as Johanna made her way over. "Didn't do so bad yourself," she said. "Nice work with the ice."

Vanner turned to look out over the town below. "I wonder how the gang down in town are doing?"

That brought the celebration to a temporary halt as the three of them looked out over the city, wondering how the others were faring...

* * *

_The Town Plaza…_

"We need to finish these guys off!" Riku shouted. He wrenched his arm out of the grip of the Heartless he was struggling against. Sora tossed his friend a potion and Riku managed to take it in time. There were only a few Heartless left, but they were proving to be durable toys.

"What do you want me to, moon 'em?" Aradorn quipped. He kicked a Heartless in the midriff before finishing it with a powerful uppercut strike. But he winced as he withdrew, reflexively gripping his sword arm in pain where a Heartless had got its teeth into him.

"Nah! Watch this, you guys!"

Sora closed his eyes and suddenly leapt towards a nearby tree, glowing with golden light. He reached out as the wind roared past and gripped the trunk, spinning round before launching himself towards some of the last few Heartless like a rocket. Then he reoriented himself, drew the Keyblade back and dropped. The shockwave exploded with magic and the small group of Heartless disappeared.

"How was THAT?" Sora crowed. Boy, that had felt great; Flowmotion technique was always fun to pull off.

"Ah, not bad." Riku gave a shrug; without looking he held out one hand and blasted a Neoshadow in the face with a ball of Dark Fire. "But what say you and I show 'em what we've got?" he asked.

Sora frowned. _What-?_ Then he got it and grinned. _Now we're talking._ "You bet, Riku!"

"Go get 'em, you two!" Kairi cheered. She retreated to a safe distance as Sora and Riku went charging in.

The teens raced in together as best friends, dealing a lightning fast series of midair blows that whipped up a wind of its own. "That all you got?" Riku teased.

Sora smirked. "Nope!" They went after a group of Neoshadows and stabbed at the monsters in a rapidfire volley of motion, then retreated; floating in midair, Sora fired off a rapid blast of blue-white flames from his hands, Riku doing the same beside him. They whirled in midair and dealt the same punishment to another group. Then they took things to the next level. Light blazed from the two best friends. Sora reached out with his right hand, holding his Keyblade right under Riku's, and they whirled, the two Keyblades projecting one bright sword blade for them. Scores of monsters were launched airborne, and the boys' followup of thirteen golden swords whirled like a chainsaw, tearing apart most of the survivors.

Finally, Sora hurled his Keyblade into the air, and Riku's flew up beside it; tips facing each other, both swords suddenly erupted with sheer magical power; Sora's in light, Riku's in darkness. "You're gonna lose it ALL!" they yelled together while hovering out of range. The opposing forces created a vortex that sucked in all the remaining Heartless in the square, and then the energies collided and rebounded with such force that it tore the monsters apart.

"Time's up!" Riku snarked, landing lightly, and Sora bumped his friend's fist as what little remained of the Heartless disintegrated, raining down like fine dust.

Then Sora glanced around. In the heat of the moment he hadn't noticed, but now that he looked...the Heartless were gone.

"We did it!" he whooped.

It was actually OVER.

"Nice job," Leon commented, walking over with Rinoa beside him; behind them Griever was disappearing back to wherever he'd come from. Sora swallowed; neither of them had fully lost that unearthly glow in their eyes yet, and Rinoa was still glowing faintly.

"You too!"

Rinoa, however, looked a tad on edge. "Something's not right..." she murmured suddenly, looking around. "We're being watched."

_She's right,_ Sora realized. _It's quiet. Too quiet._

_The hair is seriously standing up on the back of my neck. _

"Look!" Kairi suddenly exclaimed, pointing towards a tall house nearby.

Up on the edge of the rooftop stood an old man, gazing down at them with shrewd eyes and a aura of such terrible darkness it made them all shudder.

"XEHANORT!" Riku and Sora yelled at the same time. Leon stepped in front of Rinoa in a protective gesture. This earned him a glare that he ignored.

But Master Xehanort simply smirked at their reactions and turned away into a black portal, which disappeared as soon as he entered it.

"Why was he here?!" Sora wondered to himself as the tension of battle subsided.

"He must've sent all those Heartless," Riku concluded quickly.

Kairi looked up with an expression of shock. "Wait...he was testing us?"

Sora felt something nasty twist in his gut. "Then that means..." he shook his head, unable to let himself continue that thought out loud.

_That means all this wasn't even a _fraction_ of what Xehanort's got up his sleeve. We're in trouble._

* * *

_At the Front Doors, near Starseeker 1..._

Sora and his friends had gone off to get their ship and bring it up to the castle, and wouldn't be back for a bit. King Mickey had also left with Yen Sid not even a few minutes ago, heading back to the sorcerer's tower. But Lightning frowned to herself as she waited with the rest of the Committee. The battle was done and over with. The Heartless were gone and things were more or less normal. So why were the others from the plaza battle acting so...strange?

"So…that was the real Xehanort," remarked Leon, folding his arms and staring at the ground. A muscle twitched at his temple, the only real noticeable clue that he was unsettled. "He's more unnerving in person."

Rinoa shivered. "He's just so…dark. It's creepy just being near him."

_Oh...so that's the reason. They saw Xehanort in person._

Vanner nodded. "Believe me, I know."

"You've seen him in person before," Lightning remembered.

"We've fought him," Johanna spoke. Her brow was creased in a frown. "Trust me Lightning, you'd be dead in seconds if you didn't have whatever it is you have that lets you cast magic. Xehanort's tough."

_Not if he gets overconfident, _Lightning thought, but on the outside she just looked away. "Hmph."

Silence reigned for a few long moments. Then the telltale rumble of a Gummi Ship made them look up; the Highwind descended from a hover several feet overhead and settled on the ground not far from Starseeker 1.

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald and Goofy disembarked the ship after a moment. "You guys okay?" Sora asked.

Vanner shrugged. "A little scuffed up. Nothing too serious."

Aradorn winced and massaged his right arm. "Those Defenders sure pack a wallop."

Vanner gave him a look. "Excu-use me, did we run around making fun of those things?"

"Well, no."

"Point proven."

Leon spoke up, as everyone had gathered around. "So I guess this is goodbye."

"Looks like it."

"Sora, before you go, we've got something for you and the others to remember us by," Aerith spoke up.

"What is it?"

Aerith reached into her pocket and pulled out a sheaf of purple and gold laminated cards. "It's our updated membership card. We figured since you've got the old one it might be good to replace it with a new one."

"A better one, too!" Cid drawled. "Take a look at the backside, there!"

Sora accepted his along with Donald, Goofy, Riku and Kairi, and gaped at what the back of the card said. "Radiant Garden Restoration Committee...Full-time Member?!"

Laguna smiled. "Think of it as something to rely on if you folks need to come back and recuperate or something. It acts as an access card as well as a bit of a banking card. We can thank your uncle Scrooge for that one, Donald."

"WHAT?!" Donald's screech scared a few birds in the nearby bushes.

"Yup!" Yuffie said excitedly, practically hopping on the spot. "Ol' Scroogey's reopened the Radiant Garden Bank, and now the Committee's got official funds!"

"Oh!" Aerith exclaimed when Aradorn, Vanner and Johanna looked a bit put out. "I almost forgot you three still have the old cards!" She glanced to Leon, who shook his head, but Laguna had a stash in one of his pockets.

Johanna, Aradorn and Vanner all replied "Thank you, sir," when they received their new cards.

Laguna waved their formalities off. "Aw, leave the 'sir' off! I didn't make it through life being a stuck up old fogey. Call me Laguna!"

The pink that flushed across the three Masters' cheeks made the others laugh. Then Lightning watched as Sora held up his card again. "Radiant Garden Restoration Committee Full Time Member: Sora Kenn-!" He'd almost finished his last name when all of a sudden a quick flash came from the card.

"Wha-?"

That had come from Riku and Kairi, but Sora grinned, apparently recognizing the flash. He let go of the card, which rose up into the air, still glowing faintly. Sora pulled out his Keyblade and held it in both hands, right in front of him. On the ground beneath the boy there appeared a giant symbol that exactly matched his crown pendant. Light swirled around him, stirring up a whirling wind, and above them in the air there appeared a gigantic Keyhole, revealed in a beam of light that shot up from the card. Sora made a quick flourish with his Keyblade and then leveled the weapon at the Keyhole.

A shining beam of light speared into the gigantic lock, and there came the _kla-thunk_ of a lock clicking open.

The Keyhole brightened...and finally vanished.

"What the heck was that about?" Laguna wondered.

"We have to go." Sora replied easily. "That was one of the gates the Gummi Ship uses to travel. We usually find their triggers on worlds we manage to complete a mission on. What that mission is is up to the world itself."

Vanner looked up. "Speaking of which, we still have to open our gate." He wagged a finger. "And I think I know exactly what we have to use." He pulled out the journal Yen Sid had given him and opened it up to the front title page. "A Report on World Mythology and Lore, Volume 1, by Keyblade Master Walter D-"

Sure enough, the leather-bound journal gave off a flash just like Sora's new membership card. Vanner, Ara and Johanna all beamed as it floated up into the air, and moved to stand in a semicircle, holding their Keyblades onehanded, touching the tips together, and the Mark of Mastery symbol flashed into existence in a burst of silvery-white light. When the Keyhole appeared they raised their Keyblades in unison, unlocking the gate with a unified beam from the three Keyblades.

"Well, that's that," Vanner said, snatching the journal out of the air and putting it away.

"Ahh..." Laguna nodded slowly, scratching his head. "Well, guess we'll see ya later, kids." He shook hands warmly with the whole group.

Aerith smiled and accepted hugs from those who gave them. "Come back soon, okay?"

Leon smirked. "And don't get into too much trouble...I've bailed you out enough already."

"Squall, be nice!" snapped Rinoa, elbowing him.

"That's Le- Never mind."

The goodbyes went smoothly and the groups parted ways, heading for their respective ships. But Lightning hung back for a moment.

_(FFXIII: The Promise)_

"You'll keep an eye out for Serah?" she asked her old comrades. "If she shows up here - "

" - then we'll tell ya. Now am-scray b'fore y'all change yer damn mind!" Cid barked.

Lightning managed a smile. "Good luck, Commander."

Leon nodded. "You too."

"Lightning! Come on!"

Lightning turned and headed for Starseeker 1, only pausing to glance back once.

Vanner turned around and faced her once she was on board. Aradorn and Johanna had already gone up a short ladder to an upper level - probably the cockpit.

(_KHII: Laughter and Merriment_)

"Okay, Lightning, here's the basic tour in a nutshell." Vanner turned to survey the room within with her. "This main area right here is our main living area when we're on a long flight; home theater, futon/foldaway bed. You got the entertainment center with movies, books, board games, card games; all from our homeworld, so if you get bored come down and pick something out." He gestured. "Through that door on the far end is the kitchenette and dining area; pretty small but it does seat four comfortably, and there's panels in the far wall in there that lead to weapons maintenance. We can carry six on board in a pinch, but it gets kinda cramped. Behind us is the door to the engine room. Over to your left there are the bedrooms and bathroom. Yours is right there on the far end, next to the dinette; the bathroom is right in the middle. There's just the one, so we have to share. And this little ladder here goes up to the cockpit. Come on up and take a seat once you've settled in." Vanner hopped up the ladder.

Lightning took in the silent hold quietly, noting the placement of everything there. A cursory look at the TV and entertainment system told her it was slightly behind Cocoon's technology, but not by much.

Then she went to the room Fyrwinde (_Call him Vanner, idiot,_ she told herself, _you might as well get used to it_) had said was hers and opened the door. It was simple enough; cozy even. A few small posters hung on the wall; one of them was for something called a "Struggle" tournament, whatever that was. Another displayed something about some sort of movie..."The Hangover," she read quietly, before scoffing quietly. _Must be some kind of immature comedy film, _she thought to herself. The third poster above the bed advertised a band of some sort: The Black Mages. She also took note of the desk, the small dresser - very small - and a wall-mounted lamp. The bed was a twin with basic sheets and a thin comforter done in light blue, and a pair of well-fluffed pillows. "At least they managed to dredge up the basics," she muttered dryly. She slung her travel bag off her shoulder and packed away what she needed to, then turned and left, heading up to the cockpit.

_(KH 1.5: Blast Away! Gummi Ship ver II)_

She couldn't suppress the faint gasp that left her throat as she emerged from the ship's living area into the spacious bridge of Starseeker 1. It was amazing.

Instruments were flashing everywhere, gathering readings on everything around them as well as from the ship itself. Lightning could see from a first glance that this thing was well up to speed in technology. Conduits in the floor and low walls carried glowing energy to and from the ships' reactor, which had to be centralized somewhere in the ship. A variety of holographic HUDs were projected onto the lower half of the ship's big bubble canopy, which offered a perfect view of the world outside and above. Vanner, Johanna and Aradorn were seated at two of three centralized terminals to the front, left and right in the cockpit's layout. Three extra seats were laid out strategically; one next to the targeting station, one near the comms, and a copilot's seat next to the pilot's. Vanner was in the pilot's seat, Johanna was in the copilot's, and Ara had the communications displays.

She pored over the various displays while the others worked. The pilot and copilot's station was complex, with an array of dials and displays. Some were the usual aircraft systems she knew from Basic; altimeter, airspeed, attitude, turn rate, etc. Admittedly, she expected more, but judging from the holograms and other attributes, this thing probably had an advanced central computer. A display of the ship's basic status was right in the center of the pilot's station, showing a simple representation of the Gummi Ship in the center for radar, and around the outside were gauges for fuel level, armor strength, shield status, laser/missile power levels and a simple targeting reticule for the weapons systems. This wasn't an easy ship to surprise, she guessed. To the left was a targeting/monitor station. Whoever sat at that station knew what the homing weapons were targeting, as well as a more specific rundown on what could be (or was) wrong with the ship at any given moment. To the right was the ship's communications hub, which, Lightning assumed, was connected to whatever "home base" _Starseeker 1_ hailed to. There appeared to be a link to the central computer there as well, so there had to be data storage and processing, and the ship's log, too.

Still looking around, Lightning took a seat in the targeting station's chair. After a moment longer she managed to find her voice. "Hnh. Nice ride."

"I know, right?" Vanner remarked, spinning around in his seat at the pilot's station. He had a portable headset and mic inserted in his left ear. "Half this stuff wasn't here when this baby was first built. I, uh...pimped it out a bit with their help." He added the last bit hastily upon getting grilled by Aradorn's and Johanna's matching glares.

Vanner pressed a button on the pilot's station once he'd checked his instruments one last time. "Starseeker 1 to Ballroom: All systems green; engines at optimum. _Highwind_, you read me?"

_"Loud and clear, you guys!"_ Sora's voice replied over the intercom. _"We're ready for liftoff!"_

Johanna pressed a button on her own headset, seated in the copilot's chair. "Ballroom, we clear?"

Cid's drawl crackled over the radio. "You_ got a clear shot, boys 'n girls. Good luck out there, y'hear?" _

"Roger that."

_"You bet!" _

Two sets of engines belched fire; the small twin rocket engines of the Highwind and the larger triad Starseeker 1 sported. Like two raptors the ships began to rise, tilting slightly back and forth as their pilots adjusted the controls. First off the ground was the orange and gold Highwind, its twin engines singing as it climbed. Right behind it came Starseeker 1, lifting off the ground on a burst from its landing jets, its engines giving off a lower rumble than the Highwind.

Lightning glanced out the side of the bubble canopy and saw all her comrades standing on the ground below; they were waving goodbye as the ship ascended. _We're not gonna be seeing each other for a while_, she thought to herself as she strapped into her seat. With a moment's hesitation she returned the gesture; a simple wave.

Then the engines roared again and the ships gradually began to move forward through the skies of Radiant Garden. "BLAST OFF!" Donald's screech came from the intercom; she glimpsed the duck point forwards in the other ship's cockpit as though sounding the order to charge. In the blink of an eye the Highwind rocketed forward ahead of Starseeker 1 and curved upwards into the sky, becoming a speck in the space of about two seconds.

"Here we go!" Vanner barked, and he shoved the throttle bank full open. Starseeker 1 trembled and-

**...FFWWWWOOOOOOOOOMMM!**

Lightning grunted as the g-force from acceleration shoved her hard into the padded cushions of her seat. Faster and faster went the Gummi ship, its wide nose rising upwards as the ship spiraled in a slow roll, going higher and higher into the sky and shaking from atmospheric interference. Finally, all Lightning could see was a fantasmic view of the stars, strewn across a brilliant swath of near-black sky. She couldn't help the small gasp of wonder that escaped her. Seeing space was always a calming and amazing experience.

Starseeker 1 settled into a smoother flight pattern and stopped shaking as gravity outside slowly disappeared. Inside, gravity remained since the ship was outfitted with a gravitational generator. Up ahead and to the right flew the _Highwind_, which was rapidly growing larger as Starseeker 1 caught up to it.

"We'll meet up with you when we can. Until then keep an eye out for any unsealed Keyholes, got it?"

_"Got it!" _

_"Good luck,"_ came Riku's voice.

_"Don't be muddlin', now!"_ called Goofy.

_"Meddling!"_ Donald could be heard correcting.

"You stay safe. Starseeker 1 out."

_"G'bye!"_ And with that, the Highwind flickered with pseudo-motion and streaked off into the stars, disappearing in a twinkle of light.

"Well, what do you think?" Lightning blinked and looked away from the view outside. The tall guy, Aradorn was looking over at her. "Pretty good view, huh?" Aradorn commented, leaning back in his chair.

"Mm." _Why are you asking me this? I have bigger things on my mind than a nice view._

"I've never gotten used to this..." the burly man said, more to himself than to her. Lightning sighed and half-tuned him out. Stellmaris and Fyrwinde were still occupied up front. "First time I took Jess up in this thing, she...well, she loved it."

"Who's Jess?" Lightning asked.

Aradorn stared at her blankly for a split second, then dug out his wallet, tugging off his left glove as he did. "She's my wife. Used to be Jessica Leavenworth." He flashed the silver and onyx wedding band on his left ring finger, then opened his wallet and handed her a photograph. "She's a mercenary with a conscience, you could say. Met her when I was still a rookie...sort of; just made the rank of Master and managed to get myself into a tight spot at a bar. She intervened out of nowhere, we kicked ass, took names, and...it all kinda went from there. We have a common sense of fun."

Lightning gave the photo a cursory glance. Behind the battered plastic sheath was a photograph of the man in front of her, only he was wearing a blue polo shirt, and had leaned forward to get in the picture. His arms were wrapped around a rather pretty woman with dark, russet-red hair and a sweet face. The woman's honey-golden eyes were steely and strong but twinkled with merriment, and she was smiling fondly at the big man hanging over her shoulder, ruffling his hair with her free hand. Lightning noticed the telltale belts for a side holster on the woman's shoulder.

"Right now I think she's working with the, uh, Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

Lightning quirked an eyebrow. "The what division?"

"Just call it SHIELD. Saving the world and other extreme sports like that; it's pretty much her trade. Ours too." He gestured to his friends and at himself.

"Hnh."

Lightning tuned out whatever further explanation he was giving and stared out the windscreen, lost in thought with her legs crossed and her chin propped on a fist. _Serah...why didn't I listen to you?_

That question - and others - still lingered in her mind when Starseeker 1 launched headlong into the unknown.

_Don't worry, Serah...I'll find you._

_I promise._

* * *

**A/N:** Well, THIS one has been a LO-O-ONG time coming, eh?

There's several allusions that you guys can hopefully spot; whoever gets 'em gets virtual cookies!

Until next time!

_HeartofFyrwinde_


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